Aimer, c'est savoir dire je t'aime sans parler
by a flower in the sun
Summary: When Mikan willingly allows herself to be captured by S.H.I.E.L.D, she attracts the attention of the Avengers and a certain Loki, who happens to be a prisoner as well, and sees in this mysterious personage his escape ticket. What will happen when he discovers her abilities? Also a Harry Potter and Guardian of the Galaxy crossover.
1. The Trojan Horse Plan:

**Hi everyone ! I really hope that you are going to enjoy this story ^^ To the readers who had already begun to read it, I just wanted you to know that I haven't suppressed or added anything. It just seemed that the first chapters were way too short in comparison to the last ones.**

 **Please review and tell me what you think about it!**

 **A big thanks to Darksidefan5 and Lunar Wave for their advice and beta-reading ^^**

 ** **Disclaimer: I do not own neither Gakuen Alice, which belongs to Tachibana Higuchi, nor Avengers, which belongs to Marvel and even less Harry Potter, which is the work of the wonderful J.K.R :) But I do own the plot and my OC characters of course.****

 **Chapter 1: The Trojan Horse Plan:**

Mikan Sakura was wandering in the Fifth Avenue of Manhattan, taking her time. She kept studying the crowd, the traffic… families, tourists, sightseeing, laughing… From a quite well-hidden corner, she observed with a found smile an old couple walking hand in hand. Their love was one of the purest kind.

Since she could feel others' sentiments and auras, without a real way to block them, she had rarely enjoyed such a good feeling. She turned her eyes away from the happy scenery and reported again her attention to the unceasingly moving crowd. Mikan had pulled her hood, even though it was a warm sunny day. She was wearing a comfortable old pair of jeans and sweater but hadn't feel the need of sunglasses. Indeed, it was easy as child's play for her to disguise thanks to the Metamorphosis Alice.

Mikan had now the looks of a woman in her mid-thirty, quite tall, her red hair falling to her waist, her hazel eyes although remained unchanged. Her nose was too long, her mouth too small. She was still not very good at metamorphosing herself without a model. It was necessary, so she could follow her plans, ready now, after three years of preparations and documentations. There was no place for cowardice, for any doubts, any regrets.

The young woman inhaled a deep breath and exhaled only after her lungs began to burn, _hard_.

The first step was easy as a piece of cake, for her though. To attracts the attention of the S.H.I.E.L.D, she had to create enough chaos, so the police would not be able to handle her. It had to be very impressive, so Nick Fury would immediately send his men to her. At the thought of that man she felt anger rise through her body. _'No. Keep calm Mikan, you must calm down. Anger is a dangerous feeling. Especially, and essentially now. A mistake, a slip would be too easy to make if I let those feeling in.'_

Mikan wanted to start easily, there was still no need to rush her actions. She chose to use the Levitation Alice: a thief she caught red-handed flew thirty feet in the air. As the man, who seemed to not more that forty years old, began to cry for help, the Alice shook him, making some of his gains fall in the process. The crowd was now very tense, all holding their breath, their eyes captive by the scenery. When Mikan was finished with him, she placed him on a tree, making sure to not harm him of course. She just had scared him to death, it was enough of a lesson…

Few people had begun to flee, but since the Americans seemed to be quite used to such strange things lately, most of them were only gaping or taking photos. The latter matter irritated her, _'truly nowadays people have no instinct of survival...'_

Of course, Mikan knew that if she wanted to draw the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D and especially the Avengers, it wouldn't be sufficient. She smirked, satisfied. It was without counting on the Illusion Alice. Yu Tobita would probably be ashamed by the use she was planning to make of it. A knot formed itself in her stomach, Mikan knew that she had make a mistake. She should not have thought of her former friends right now. 'S _top being so sentimental Mikan!'._ She gulped and willed herself. What she was about to do need a lot of concentration and energy and Mikan was quick to banish further thoughts on the subject before she lost her concentration completely.

Slowly, Mikan began to shape the forms of three Leviathans. The effect was instantaneous, by now the crowd was a screaming mess, as everyone began to run for their lives. Her creations took on similar form to the monsters that assaulted New York a month prior, drawing on the fear and panic their presence would cause the still weary public.

But the goal was to cause a commotion, not any actual disaster resulting civilian injuries or death. Using the Doppelganger Alice, Mikan shaped a small troop of clones to discreetly work on keeping citizens from harm. It was one thing to cause a panic, and another entirely to be responsible for the deaths of innocents. They helped lost children, the elder ones, kept everyone from any major incident. After all, she would never forgive herself if the citizen were to be injured or put in a real danger because of her sake.

 _'It should now be only a matter of time.'_ The young woman freed her mind of any doubts, any thoughts. She had to be very careful since it was palpable illusions able of crushing buildings and human-beings too easily. To prevent such a problem Mikan held them high in the sky, as they kept moving menacingly in circle motions. The Alice, then, looked around her, satisfied as empty streets presented themselves in front of her. She was successfully achieving her plan for now. " _After all it was the easiest part…"_

Mikan felt her body tense as she spotted two red figures drawing closer dangerously fast in the sky. She recognized one of them as Thor and guessed that the other one was probably Iron Man. As the two Avengers landed, Mikan dropped her illusion which resulted into two of the three Leviathans to disappear. She would need all the strength she could illusions took too much of her energy. With the Leviathans gone, Iron Man and Thor approached her even more cautiously, weapons drawn. But where two Avengers went, the rest were no doubt soon to follow. It wasn't long before Mikan noticed the rest of their little team silently enter the scene from what they must have assumed were her blind spots.

"Whoever you are, we ask you to stop this this instant! If you do not surrender immediately we will not hesitate to fire!" warned the pilot of the helicopter that had appeared before her.

The Alice looked at the helicopter above her and began quickly considering her options. If she resigned too soon it would appear suspicious, but she didn't want to harm them. So, Mikan chose to make the last Leviathan disappear, but not to make things too easy for the Avengers. She immediately activated her Barrier Alice and began to run through the street to find a safe place to hide. They fired at her and Mikan could hear the bullets coming, whistling all around her, bouncing off her shield.

The Alice dove into a nearby store for sanctuary. She didn't want to reveal all of her abilities, not yet. But there were some abilities she couldn't help but expose. The Doppelganger Alice was the most visible, but the use of the Teleportation Alice - well that was something that could help them guessing for a while yet. Combining both powers, Mikan crafted another set of clones, one for each Avenger to face. It should keep them busy at the very least. The young woman had no intention to harm them too much, but she wasn't going to give up easily too.

Watching the Avengers in battle was an educational experience. They didn't fight like her clones: in tandem with single purpose. They hadn't quite developed their sync. Each person fought as if they were the lone fighter in this encounter. But then they'd catch a glimpse of a teammate in their periphery, and their attack would suddenly shift. They wouldn't fight for themselves or even the world at large. They would fight for each other.

Though even this wasn't enough to conquer the frustration and sheer fatigue as they endlessly clone after clone.

It was time for this little stunt to come to an end.

Mikan eyed her target. He grappled with one of her clones in the street, their mouvements confined by the numerous abandoned cars.

This would be a relatively fair fight. Soldier to soldier, one fight that would confront two genetically manipulated persons.

Captain America, shieldless and preoccupied, never even saw her coming.

Her blow landed square on his jaw, knocking him back into an empty taxi.

Mikan could tell that she had surprised him by the strength of her hit. The Cap recomposed himself quickly before to riposte, hitting her on the stomach, dodging the blows. The Alice hit him back and let him progressively gain the advantage, mentally counting for a reasonable amount of kicks and bruises before to finally throw up her arms in the air in a show of impuissance.

"I surrender" cried the young woman, right as the Cap was gearing up to strike back.

As soon as she said so, Mikan summoned all her clones back to her before to dismiss them. Immediately, she felt herself become lighter as her body was once again whole. The moment did not last long as she was quickly encircled by a rather incensed group of superheroes.

It didn't take long before Mikan found herself arrested and handcuffed onboard their Helicopter.

Mikan had really wanted to intervene and help the Avengers to neutralize Loki. Sadly, The Ancient One was of another opinion. It had costed Mikan a lot to follow her will… Two weeks in the Mirror Dimension spent alongside Stephen Strange, without their Slings Rings, of course… but she knew that it had to be that way. What had surprised them though, was Loki's intent to control the Earth, they both knew that Asgardians didn't thought highly of them...

The young woman was brought back of her reflections by the over-stressed vibes emanating from the Doctor Banner. There was no need to have super powers to see that the poor man was too tired and ready to transform into the Hulk again. Mikan kept watching him, studying him without being intruding and conjured all her will to not feel guilty again. Finally, she started humming quite happily, playing with her hair, her eyes never living the doctor, while completely ignoring the glares she earned from the both frustrated Hawkeye and Iron Man.

Banner looked at the woman in front of him firstly nonplussed then surprised and finally curious as he recognized the tune she was humming. It was an Indian air which was known for being relaxing and destressing. Since he had been there for years, he was now certain, but surprised, that she was so openly trying to help him. He was even more surprised to feel himself destressed progressively, becoming calmer, their eyes never breaking contact. He couldn't help but wonder how her hazel eyes could be so warm when she had managed to give them the fright of their lives few hours ago, especially for Stark, which was easily understandable… He gave her an incredulous but grateful smile, and, when she held his gaze, he would have sworn that it was guilt that he had seen in her eyes. Finally, Mikan gave him a quick nod.

The complete exchange had not escaped the attention of a certain Captain who laid his observing gaze over a very calm woman, who was mentally kicking herself.

* * *

When the helicopter landed on the Helicarrier of S.H.I.E.L.D, Mikan observed discreetly every move and every structure around her. She knew that S.H.I.E.L.D could hardly handle her, she was no real prisoner, her Alices were too powerful for that. Also, it was without counting on the Teleportation Alice, even though it was always a good thing to have a plan B.

She followed the Avengers through the structures, making a mental plan of the Helicarrier, so she would be able to find her way back to the deck easily if needed. The group of superheroes was encircling her again, but she didn't mind it. After all, she was dangerous, and this had just been a displayed of her real abilities. It didn't even represent it... If Mikan had learned something the past fourteen years, it was that someone was never being too cautious, reason why she couldn't incur the risk to give too much away about her: if Fury was to know how powerful she was, he would either make sure to kill her by himself (which she dared him to do) or try to get her in his ranks without any options of refusal (which wasn't an option too).

Finally, Thor chose to break the silence, earning Mikan's full attention in the process:

"So you're a sorceress then? One of my brother's allies?" he asked unsure and frustrated.

"I'm not a sorceress. I would define myself as an Alice."

She hadn't feel the need to hide her identity and the Alices never tried to hide themselves from the others. After all, the Imai's Business was the living proof of it. At the thought of Hotaru, Mikan felt both pride toward her former best friend (if someone could out best Tony Stark, it was her!), and nostalgia.

It had been twelve years, since all her friends had believed to have witnessed her death by themselves. Yet, she was still pretty much alive. She wondered how they were to react if they were to discover this…

Her childhood friends were a part of a beautiful past, a group to which she didn't belong anymore. Her heart sank: she hadn't a real home anymore _. 'But, I still have friends… Wong, Karl Mordo and Strange, even though Stephen can be a real pain in the neck when he wants to! And the Ancient One will always be there for me, just as I will always be there for her…"_. Mikan closed her eyes and let her hurting heart be warmed by these thoughts. Loneliness had always been her nemesis, just as her past friends would always be her weak point. Indeed, they would forever hold a special place in her heart…

Everything had changed. Mikan had ended by herself all the dangerous organizations who used to harm Alices. The Alice Community and the Alice Academy weren't worried by constant threats of slavery and kidnaping anymore. Since Shiki and her uncle had took the control of the Academy, the students could visit regularly their parents… Tsubasa-Sempai and Misaki-Sempai were now a married couple, Luca and Hotaru lived together, Curly-Hair and Koko were dating… There was no room for her in the school, in village, alongside to Hotaru or anyone else... Mikan no longer belonged in there, she had for long lost this right: she was too tainted now… Her heart felt heavy again.

Thor was lost in his thoughts too. This woman had frightening fighting skills and they were to keep her captive in the same confinement capsule which had been designed to hold the Hulk. The capsule security had been of course increased and with both Midgardians and Asgardians devices it could now even held Loki captive. S.H.I.E.L.D had now four of them, and he internally pried that it would be last time one of them would be used. _'They are still not perfect… Loki is still able to use few of his magic inside his cell.'_

Thinking of which, Thor could sense some Asgardian Magic running inside the young Midgardian besides him. He still couldn't tell if she had lied to him or if she was simply not aware of it. Did Loki charm her? Or was she just telling the truth? After all, her clones and illusions were palpable and made of material, something that Loki or any Sorcerer, at least Asgardians ones, had never been able to achieve to craft. Materializing already existent things, yes, they could, but not such an exploit.

"And Alice, what's your last name, for the record?" Tony interjected.

"My name is not 'Alice'. I simply am an Alice. My name is Mikan Sakura."

"And just what exactly is an Alice?" Tony asked

"I am the owner of an Alice Stone. It provides me, and those like me, special abilities. There are Alices that can fly, talk to animals, cast illusions - you name it. Though it's rare to possess more than one Alice Stone, there are a few who are gifted with more than one ability."

"How does one come by one of these Alice Stones?"

"You don't find them; you're born with a Stone. It's not strictly hereditary, but having a parent with an Alice does increase the likelihood."

The Black Widow spoke next, voicing the doubts everyone else seemed to share. "And what proof do you have of all this? Sounds to me like you're just another enhanced individual. You talk of stones - Terrigenesis perhaps?"

Mikan looked at her, without blinking at the fury and suspicions in the woman's eyes. Natasha Romanoff was a very talented and dreaded spy. Her guards weren't ones to be easily shattered. Mikan smiled at her.

"There is no use for me to lie to you, the Alice society is not a real guarded secret even if she remains discreet. Most of the Alices lives in Japan and anyone who wants to make a professional contract with them can contact them easily. I'm just surprised that Mr. Stark doesn't know about us, after all any successful businessman is aware of the Alices notoriety, especially with the Imai Business."

"J.A.R.V.I.S, is she telling the truth?" asked Tony, even though he was already sure of it. Yet, a little confirmation wouldn't harm. He finally nodded to the others as J.A.R.V.I.S showed him several elements confirming his feeling.

"You don't look Japanese." pointed out Hawkeye. He stopped walking, just as everyone did. Mikan Sakura's appearance had begun to change. Her hair now brunette, matching her hazel eyes, was falling to her waist. The Alice's height was similar to Natasha's, her skin paler and brighter, her eyes turned a little slanted, and the traits in her face were now harmonious. She was a stunning beauty and was in nothing comparable to her previous figure. Mostly she looked ten years younger.

"Wait, how old are you?" asked Dr. Banner.

"24."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're one of those Alices you mentioned that has more than one ability, right?"

Bruce Banner studied her as her body tensed. Finally, she looked at him with an expressionless face.

"I am quite a unique Alice, so I don't think that you can compare me to any of the others. And as for possible threats, I hardly doubt that the existence of Alices could be seen as one since most of them are harmless and a lot of Alices disappear after few years. Our numbers are no more than three hundred. And our Academy has already signed treaties with most major countries as well as the UN. We are not a threat doctor. The which means that we are not thousands but not more than three hundred. I also would like to point out the fact that the Academy has only been created in order to prevent the enslavement of Alices, which does not only concern children, but adults too." reasoned Mikan, quite satisfied with herself.

Never quitting observing her, the doctor measured all her affirmations. She seemed to be telling the truth and, curiously, he wanted to trust her. Still, for all it was worth, she could be as good at lying as Loki was. After all, the better way to make a good lie was to wrap it with undeniable truths. This Mikan Sakura could have helped him only because she didn't want to be in same plane as an uncontrollable monster. Even though, he doubted that it would really scare her away: it was the first time someone achieved to make him have a hard time in a battle. Problem that he hadn't even encountered with Loki, the _Puny god_. The only matter that puzzled the Doctor was that Mikan Sakura hadn't tried to harm anyone.

The group finally reached the capsules' room. Mikan could only see four ones and knew that there were no others. Only one capsule was already occupied. She recognized the other captive: Loki Odinson, or Laufeyson, whichever he wanted to. He was sitting on a bed reading a book. Mikan was too far to be able to see the detail of his face. Loki seemed to be a tall man, rather thin and cold. His stance was graceful and royal. After all, he was supposed to be both a charmer and a prince. He was also clothed in what she guessed to be an all-in leather Asgardian outfit, which was as outstanding as his brother's.

While the Avengers were preparing and programming the devices for her cell, Mikan kept a discreet eye on the Asgardian Prince. She knew that she wasn't supposed to see him: his capsule should have seemed empty. Of course, it was without counting on her Nullification Alice which seemed to work on the technology used to keep him out of the eye.

As if Loki had sensed her, his full attention was now on her. She held his gaze and wondered what color his eyes were. _'Green… They are probably green…'_ , Mikan thought. The Trickster lifted an amused eyebrow at the scenery that was playing in front of him, his lips turned into a smirk. Mikan tilted slightly her head to have a better view and finally smiled at him.

Secure in her cell, the team hastily left, most likely heading to debrief Fury. The Alice waved a cheeky goodbye before throwing a wink to her neighbor. The God of Mischief indulged her an amused grin in return.

Mikan brought back her attention to her own capsule. It seemed quite comfortable, she had a bed, a chair and a table. She wasn't one to complain since she had lived with less… Mikan disabled her Alices, which rendered her only able to see her reflection. She had a bruised check; her stomach was hurting like hell and she had scratches all over her body. It would be easy to heal herself but, it was one of her assets that she wanted to be kept secret. The young woman reactivated her Alices and was now able to see through the glass again. From her cell, the halls seemed more impressive, but weren't enough enlightened to allow her to see any further.

The only way to switch the light from her own capsule would have been a power cut. The light wasn't aggressive, and it was better this way. Mikan had no shame to admit that she feared more than anything to be held in the dark. It wasn't a child's fear as it had been when she was nine, no. After being held for almost two years in the dark and being tortured each time she had been captured by enemies' organizations, it was pretty normal and human to feel that way. The previous year, she had finally achieved to dismantle the last one, the last organization that had used her power, that had hurt her and Natsume...

The young woman closed her eyes and chased the bad thoughts away. They were unnecessary and dangerous. When Mikan opened her eyes again, just to realize that Loki had resumed his attention to his book. The young woman couldn't help but feel curious: when she had passed in front of him, she had seen his aura. Or rather his _auras_. Indeed, she could have sworn that he had two distinct ones… the first was a shining shade of green, suiting him perfectly but contrasting with his deep dark feelings. _'Hate, mostly self-hatred, ambitions, jealousy… If my Nullification Alice was inefficient, I bet that I still could have sensed him anyway. I've hardly seen someone with such strong feelings who could remain so self-composed, this is truly impressive. But, he is the God of Lies and Mischiefs, so, no wonder… Yet, his aura isn't dark, he is still not evil'_. The second aura was an unstable darkish purple one. Mikan had never seen such a disgusting thing. She recognized what was going on…

As Mikan headed to her new bed, she made the resolution to take care of this problem the next day…

* * *

"She is too dangerous, and way too calm, I don't like it. It feels like reliving the events from a month ago." Hawkeye growled in frustration.

"My Brother isn't able to create such perfect illusions and her clones were reals ones, palpable. We were all on her, and we had a hard time stopping her. I think that she may be even more dangerous than Loki is."

"It's obvious that Mikan Sakura didn't surrender because she couldn't fight anymore," frowned Steve. "And I think that she was holding back. I don't believe we saw her full power today."

"I don't get her motive," Bruce began. "She didn't harm anyone. It's like she just wanted to be captured."

Tony immediately chimed in, "Yeah and look how well that went for us last time."

"Alices are not supposed to be so powerful," Fury said, standing at the head of the table. "It's the only reason we haven't ever interfered. From what we've gathered, these people are harmless - victims mostly of kidnapping and slavery. Anyone that presents a threat is usually taken care of in-house."

Natasha spoke. "So is she a threat?"

"If she's friendly, then she went about contacting us the wrong way. She needs to cooperate if she ever plans on leaving that cell."

"And if she doesn't?" Tony asked.

"Then we'll probably end up handing her over to the Wizarding World. They'd be better suited to handle her."

Bruce was the first to question Fury's decision. "You wouldn't send her back to her own people? The Alice Academy?"

"If she made it this far, I doubt her people can contain her."

"But the Wizarding World won't take her. Powers or not, she's a Muggle to them and not their responsibility," Hawkeye retorted.

Fury seemed to ignore him. "Agent Hill, contact Miss Granger. We're gonna need a Legilimens."

* * *

Hermione Jean Weasley, née Granger, was beyond frustrated. In fact, she had been in a fool mood the whole day. The brightest witch of her age had been trying now for weeks to work on a very complex affair between werewolves and vampires as the Deputy Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. But, it was without counting on Kingsley to interrupt her work. Again.

Indeed, the Minister of Magic had chosen her to be the emissary between S.H.I.E.L.D and the Wizarding Word. She didn't dislike the job, but it was highly stressing and irritating to constantly have to deal with the mischiefs of Loki, who was her living definition of a nightmare! Not only was he dangerous being but also such a showoff and an irritating man. If she could make the trade, Hermione would rather spend all her days in the company of Draco Malfoy if it meant to be get rid of him! Really, she couldn't understand why such a threat wasn't imprisoned in Asgard. Even though he had been disowned and exiled by Odin, he was still their responsibility since they were the only ones who really could handle him… Hermione only prayed that the Asgardians had only enough of him, rather than any worrying other options…

Another problem that had hit her when she had begun to work on his case was that her magic was not half as powerful as his, even though no one doubted her magical skills. The first time they had met Hermione had even wondered if her wand wasn't broken, since it didn't even flash the spells she had tried to use on him. She had later discovered that he draw his magic, naturally, from the environment he was in, which meant that he partly draw his magic from her own each time they were to confront. Was he to be anywhere near the Wizarding Society… she didn't even want to think about it. Moreover, to add to her despair, Hermione couldn't use Legilimency on him, that annoying fact was only a logical consequence of this situation and God knows how, Loki was even able resist easily to the Veritaserum…

To be able to overcome the problem, Hermione did study very carefully the Asgardian's magic, but it had turned out that studying it and mastering it were two whole different things, and she still hadn't make any meaningful improvement…

Hermione sighed as she took the bottle of Veritaserum inside her drawer. She was going to use it on a completely different person. In fact, when one of Kingsley's assistants had come to inform her that she was requested by S.H.I.E.L.D _again_ , she hadn't really payed attention to what he had been saying. It wasn't until she heard the words _New-York_ , _attack_ and _Leviathans_ that she had understood the seriousness of the situation. Of course, Fury wanted her to come immediately to be able to interrogate efficiently the woman responsible of all of this.

The woman, in her late twenties, had all rights to be worried. In fact, after some research, she had finally guessed why Loki was so interested by conquering the Earth. After all, being a bookworm was always helpful, and it had greatly helped that Thor had accepted to provide her some books from the Asgardian Realm. This had firstly allowed Hermione to discover that the Tesseract was in fact an Infinity Stone. Though having access to such a wide array of knowledge was very stressful at times. Having her world flipped on its head once when she was eighteen made for many sleepless nights Hermione never regretted learning about new things, but sometimes, topics such as Infinity Stones were better left unknown if one wanted to sleep peacefully.

 _"Infinity Stones? What are those exactly?" Doctor Banner had asked._

 _"Friend Banner, these are relics that pre-date the universe itself. They are an ancient force of infinite destruction." Thor had responded him. "You should know this my friends : before the creation of the Universe, six singularities existed. Some time after the Universe exploded into existence, these were formed into the six Infinity Stones by the Cosmic Entities. Each stone represented a different aspect of the universe: Space, Mind, Reality, Power, Soul and Time._

 _They can only be brandished by beings of extraordinary strength. These carriers can use a Stone to mow down entire civilizations like wheat in a field."_

 _"So, to summarize, Point Break, Reindeer Games is strong enough to hold two of them?" Stark wondered, not reassured by this fact._

 _"I doubt he is, nor that I am. Anyone can carry a Stone if well kept in a powerful enough container. In this case, the Tesseract and the Scepter were the containers of the Space and Mind Stones respectively."_

 _"And apart from destroying the whole Universe, what does these rocks allows to?" Stark inquired warily._

 _"You already have witnessed the powers of the Space and Mind Stones. I shall therefore pass to the others._

 _The Reality Stone is red and is contained in the Aether, which does appear as a dark, red, viscous liquid. It acts like a symbiotic force, capable of being absorbed into the body of a living host, giving the user the ability to warp reality at will, granting that person immense strength, durability, powers and subjective influence over the Universe."_

 _"Ewee… This is really beginning to sound creepy!" Tony had commented._

 _Hermione and Natasha had rolled their eyes at his antics._

 _"Man of Iron, I do not know if 'creepy' would be the better word to describe the Infinity Stones incredible powers."_

 _"Ignore him, Thor. Continue your explanations please." she had encouraged him to._

 _"As you wish Lady Granger. The Power Stone is purple and is contained in the Orb. This Stone is an incredible power source, it can increase the user's physical abilities and allows to manipulate energy. When used at full potential, it has enough power to obliterate an entire planet when unleashed."_

 _Hermione haven't been able to contain back her shivers at this point of the discussion. She realized that Natasha, Steve Rogers, Doctor Banner and even Stark and paled slightly._

 _"The Time Stone is green and is contained in the Eye of Agamotto. Its container is an ancient artifact, a pendant created by Agamotto, the first Sorcerer Supreme. I believe that it is located on Midgard, in a place named Kamar-Taj, if I recall well._

 _Finally, the Soul Stone is orange, but no one knows currently where it is contained, nor its full power..."_

 _"I am afraid to ask, but happens when these are all reunited?" Steve Rogers had asked._

 _"Believe me Captain of America, you do not want to know. The power of all six Stones can be harnessed collectively with the help of the Infinity Gauntlet, but none who have attempted this have survived…"_

Needless is to say that she nearly had a heart attack after reading these articles. Voldemort's threat paled in comparison to the current danger the Earth and its inhabitant were now exposed into. Especially after she had discovered that three of the Stones were currently housed in Earth. The Space Stone, the Time Stone, and the Mind Stone. The latter had been discovered inside Loki's Scepter, which was a weapon that utilized the yellow Mind Stone housed inside a blue computer module, which also masked the stone's presence. Tony Stark had initially seen the Stone as a power source, whereas once J.A.R.V.I.S. had the opportunity to study the stone he stated it was more akin to a very powerful computer…

S.H.I.E.L.D was now housing, and guarding Loki's Scepter, while the Tesseract had been sent to Asgard. As for the Time Stone was trusted to be under the care of a certain Doctor Strange, who seemed to be able to protect it.

Hermione, who had already wasted too much time thinking, finally Apparated in Fury's Headquarter in the Helicarrier.

* * *

"Even after our researches, we still have no real idea about who Mikan Sakura truly is," began a frustrated Natasha. "Mikan Sakura had been adopted by an old man whose name was Nonno Sakura. He used to work in a temple and also a nursery, but after adopting her, he had retired in an area alone ever since. She is not related to him by blood and it is unknown how she had been introduced to him. We have no idea who her parents are, or were, and we can't even ask Nonno Sakura since he died seven years ago."

"How was her Alice discovered?" asked Fury.

"When she was nine years old she ran away from home and went directly to the Alice Academy. The only Alice she could possess back then was the Nullification Alice, which gave her the ability to be unaffected by any other Alice." continued Natacha slightly frowning. "I've tried to access the academy's systems, but whoever they hired in IT is really good at their job. But before you actually get disappointed, I was able to find the cause of her death. There was an explosion. And she wasn't the only one to have 'died' in it too. The Academy Elementary School Principal and another student, Natsume Hyûga - also apparently known as Black Cat, supposedly died as well. But like Mikan Sakura, their bodies were never recovered either."

"What do we know about the other two?"

"The other student possessed a very powerful Fire Alice and was even being sent on missions from the time he was eight." Natasha's voice didn't falter, but Fury heard a slight shift in her tone as she relayed the last bit of information. Natasha continued as if nothing was amiss, "His mother was an enemy of the Academy. She was a journalist who died in a car accident that was really anything but. Not long after, their village burned down, and the boy was taken in by the Academy, though the circumstances were less than favorable. It appears both he and Mikan Sakura weren't exactly liked by the elementary school principal either. We don't have much on the ESP other than he was a manipulative and dangerous SOB."

Any further discussion was interrupted by a loud pop.

"Miss Granger," Fury greeted. "Thank you for joining us."

* * *

Hermione observed the Alice from the security feed outside the cellblock. She studied the woman as she lazed about her cell, seemingly unconcerned with her current situation.

She looked to Fury and gave a small nod. Bracing herself, the witch followed after S.H.I.E.L.D's director into the cellblock.

Coming to stand before Mikan's cell, Hermione took a long moment to examine the other woman, just as the Alice did the same.

Their eyes locked, each looking for weakness in the other. Keeping her gaze steady, Hermione pulled her wand from one pocket and a small piece of scrap from the other. With a wave of her wand, the scrap piece transformed into a wooden chair. She took a rather graceful seat and watched as the Alice approached the glass, awe written all over her face. Mikan tilted her head and observed with a small smirk Hermione's wand. She was facing a witch, nothing comparable to the Masters of the Mystic Arts. The woman in front of her lived in a world of dragons, goblins, werewolves, vampires and everything that Mikan had believed to be myths so far. Irony, since she had been aware of the existence of the Asgardian's Realm way before Loki's attempt to invade the Earth, or Thor's apparition one year ago!

Mikan smiled: this promised to be interesting.

Mirroring the witch actions, Mikan positioned her own chair squarely in front of Hermione's and sat unceremoniously.

It was as if Nick Fury wasn't even present. He didn't like that.

"It is in your best interest to cooperate. Honesty will gain you your freedom much faster than lies. And we will know if you lie to us."

"Let's begin. What is your full name?"

"My name is Mikan Sakura Yukihira."

"Yukihira?" Hermione frowned, "It seems that you haven't mentioned this earlier."

The Alice shrugged it off. "During the two years I have spent in the Alice Academy, I discovered who my biological were. Izumi Yukihira, my father, was killed before my birth by Kuonji, the former Academy's Elementary School Principal. My mother Yuka Azumi died in the first Rebellion led against the ESP, killed by him too. I do love them a lot, however I can't forget that the one who raised me is Nonno Sakura, so Mikan Sakura it is."

It was this instant Natasha, Tony, Bruce and Thor chose to join Hermione in the cellblock.

"Does it make you a relative of the current High Responsible of the Alice Academy?" asked Natasha.

"If you are speaking about Kazumi Yukihira, then yes. He is my uncle since he is the older brother of my late father." Mikan nodded.

"Are the two others, who disappeared with you still alive?" Fury finally stepped out of the silence.

Mikan surprised them as she started laughing at him, humorlessly and heartlessly, hatred filling her eyes. Since she seemed to be the only one to able to understand the comic of the situation, she leaned toward the group, her hands now pressed on the cold glass, and explained:

"Both of them died afterward, you know." Mikan smirked before continuing, "Kuonji died in a real explosion four years later. Natsume, also known by his alias the Black Cat, died in a mission that we both had to fulfill, at the sorry age of fourteen. But I can't help it, it is so funny that you are the one asking this question, since that mission was funded by S.H.I.E.L.D, itself." Mikan, who truly couldn't help it, started to laugh again.

Tony, Hermione, Bruce and Thor tensed simultaneously. They knew that S.H.I.E.L.D had its flaws and even if the woman in front of them could have been lying to them, they wouldn't be surprised if such a fact was true.

Since Hermione needed to get inside to cast her spell on Mikan, the group agreed silently onto continuing the interrogatory inside the capsule.

Mikan kept herself from smirking. They had made the wrong move and now all the cards were in her hands. _'All is fair in love and war, they say.'_ The young woman had activated her Mind Reading Alice the very instant Hermione Jean Granger Weasley and Fury had stepped inside the cellblock. She knew that the witch was planning to use her Magic on her.

A spell called Legilimency, quite similar to mind reading, even though it seemed to be more complex. Which bothered Mikan, though, was the fact that she didn't know if her Barrier Alice would be efficient against the witch's Magic. She knew from experience that it could block the Magic practiced by the Masters of the Mystic Arts but still…

 _'Someone is never too cautious...'_ Mikan, unsure, activated her Barrier Alice anyway and put all her energy and concentration into this task.

Mikan willed herself to remain calm and not appear suspicious, nor worried. She looked curiously at Thor, Doctor Banner and Tony Stark, who were mostly very stiff or holding unconsciously their breath. She did what she was supposed to, which meant to look around searching what they were all staring at.

Mikan finally looked at Hermione. She didn't faint her surprise when a very strong curse hit her barriers very hard. The shock was so powerful, that it sent both of them fly across the cell. Mikan let out a gasp of pain as her body hit cruelly the glass. The pain was now unbearable. She was vaguely aware of Thor and Dr. Banner reaching for her, before to close her eyes.

 _'Well it seems that my Alice can block her Magic…'_ she thought before to fall unconscious.

 **AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA**

 **A.N:**

 **Hi, I just wanted to explain why Hermione is only known as Miss Granger by the Avengers, and not as Ms. Weasley. In fact, Hermione is just being cautious. She knows that by helping the S.H.I.E.L.D, she could endanger her family, since Loki or threats like him, who have access to very dangerous weapon as the Infinity Stones, are more powerful and dangerous than Voldemort could ever have been. She just doesn't want to give too much about her.**

 **As for Mikan, she is now a very powerful Alice. Which explains why Hermione can't practice magic on her. I think that since Alices are not magic, her Barrier Alice could even protect her from the Killing Curse, which is known to be an "unblockable" curse.**

 **This work for Mikan, but could all Alices be kind of immune to magic?**

 **I thought that it could be interesting to compare how magic works in different realms. We know that Loki had learned the arts of magic from Frigga, his mother. I think that since he is not born with magic, it is only logic that he withdraws his from the environment he is in.**

 **The origins of Alices, which will be explained later in the story, are very important for its development.**

 **Please give me your opinion on the matter. I will be open to other possible theories.**


	2. Of Bad Memories and Helping Loki:

**Hi everyone ! Here is the second chapter :) I really hope that you are enjoying this story ^^**

 **Please review and tell me what you think about it!**

 **I send love to you all beautiful people for following/favoriting/reviewing my story ^^**

 **I also want to thank once more time Darksidefan5 for her advice and beta reading :)**

 ** **Disclaimer: I do not own neither Gakuen Alice, which belongs to Tachibana Higuchi, nor Avengers, which belongs to Marvel and even less Harry Potter, which is the work of the wonderful J.K.R :) But I do own the plot and my OC characters of course.****

 **Chapter 2: Of Bad Memories and Helping Loki:**

 _Mikan was in the dark, she couldn't see a thing. Where was she? Were her eyes closed? She slowly tried to open and close them, but her traitorous body wouldn't respond her... In fact, she couldn't even feel it..._

 _Was she finally dead? After these two years working like a slave for Kuonji, it would be such a huge relief! She wouldn't have to taint her hands anymore, she was going to be free again! Finally freed from that constant pain, freed from her fears, freed from this suffocating self-hatred, this overwhelming feeling of shame, freed from her life, freed from Kuonji…_

 _Would she be able to meet her parents and Natsume again?... At this thought her scarred soul warmed again. How she had longed to see them!..._

 _Were these strange sounds voices? Did people scream in Heaven? Fear began to build inside her. Was she not worthy enough? Had she been sent to Hell? Mikan felt like crying… Yet she didn't even have that luxury…_

 _She didn't know how much time passed. She was so alone… so alone… Why did she feel so cold when she didn't even have a body anymore? How long would she have to endure this?..._

 _After what seemed to be ages of wondering, she finally sensed another presence… She could feel it coming toward her…_

 _When she felt that warm light encircling her, Mikan wasn't afraid. She still couldn't see anything, but she sensed it. It was such a strange experience, she didn't even know if she could be able to describe it herself… She had never felt like this before… It was so safe, so welcoming, like a new extension of herself... It was now humming at her, begging Mikan to accept it. She wasn't one to comply. She wouldn't be alone anymore…_

 _As they both united, Mikan finally felt it again. Her body. Her aching body. Why did it hurt so much? Where was she? She tried to open her eyes again. Her eyelids painfully responded to the process, but now, she was able to see again…_

 _Every cell of her body was screaming of pain. Her vision was a blur colorful mess of waves. Mikan blinked several times before to feel it fade slightly. It was enough to allow her to see the several burned dead bodies in front her. She was in what she recognized to be the secret research laboratory center of Kuonji and his men. She felt a building panic rise inside her as she contemplated their dead bodies._

 _When she finally began to understand the meaning of the horrific scene before her, she heard a terrible horrified scream. As Mikan released that the scream had been hers, she was already falling back into unconsciousness…_

* * *

When Hermione had felt the Legilimency spell backfiring at her, she had acted quickly, preventing herself from being hurt. Alas, it wasn't the case of Mikan Sakura, whose body slammed into the glass wall behind her. The moment Hermione heard her sharp gasp of pain, she felt slightly guilty, even though she knew that she couldn't have predicted such a possible turn of events.

Thor and Dr. Banner immediately ran toward Mikan. The doctor began to check her injuries - the most pressing seeming to be her right arm, which was now bent at an unnatural angle. Careful to not further disturb it, Banner carefully pulled up Mikan Sakura's sweater to check for any immediate signs of internal damage.

But no one in the room was prepared for what they were about to see.

Her stomach and chest were a mess of scars - long, thin, short, jagged. There didn't seem to be a patch of skin that was left untouched. A few of the longer ones stretched around her sides. Delicately shifting the unconscious woman, Banner's fears were confirmed: her back was the same motley of wounds.

Thor had knelt on Mikan Sakura's other side. "Look."

He held her good arm, and gently pushed up her sleeve. Her arms had not been spared torture either."

Hermione shuddered as she remembered her own experience with Bellatrix. It had been the most humiliating and horrifying moment of her life. However, she had been through this only once, when Mikan Sakura had probably been acquainted to such cruelty more often… Hermione still couldn't feel at ease with her. These scars may have been what have brought the young woman in there… Someone could easily be behind her actions, controlling her. But now Hermione was sure that it wasn't Loki, or at least not directly. He wasn't the kind of evil that used torture to manipulate the others. No, he would find such ways too vulgar for him, particularly when Loki's charms and charisma were habitually enough to seduce people to join him of their own will.

The witch approached the unconscious body of Mikan Sakura, wand in hand. With a fluid flick she tried various healing spells starting with the most basic ones: _Ferula_ and _Episkey_. However, Hermione realized with both frustration and surprise that her magic was bouncing off some kind of force field. The Alice could block her magic. Hermione felt her heartbeats go crazy. If Mikan was indeed a real threat, then it could make no good.

Since it seemed that her magic was blocked by her barriers, Hermione had no other choice but let a muggle doctor take care of her. The woman was dangerous; there was no question about that. But Nick Fury seemed to be the only one callous enough to not appear affected about what he just saw. But then again, the type of detachment would probably keep them all alive if she ended up being a true threat.

"Miss Granger did you manage to cast a healing spell at her?" finally asked her Dr. Banner, breaking the silence that had fell in the room since the incident.

"No, I didn't use my magic, since it could only worsen her state I think…"

"Then it means that she also possesses the ability to heal herself, even when she is unconscious, because her dislocated shoulder had repositioned itself by its own." frowned the doctor.

"Well if it is the case, she is safe, and we have no reason to stay here anymore.", simply replicated the witch.

"Still I don't get it, if she is able to heal herself so quickly, how does it comes that so much scars remains on her body?" wondered Thor.

"This only means that there is a limit to her body's healing process. It is very probable that the people that have done such a thing to her enjoyed this ability too much, to the point it wasn't sufficient anymore… Or that she simply gained this ability afterward." stated Stark.

Thor resumed his attention on the scarred body of Mikan Sakura, frowning. This treatment was barbaric, but he wasn't going to trust her only because of a sorry experience. He had again seen how powerful she was and couldn't help but wonder who could have rendered her body to such a state… Did they have to fear another enemy, more powerful that she already was?

"If she can block your Magic, Lady Granger, I think that she might be able to counter my brother's too, with more difficulty, of course. Which would imply that if she was ever to help him, it would be only be willingly." started Thor.

"I don't think that we can trust such a thing since Loki was in the possession of the Mind Stone…" Banner thought aloud.

"And that's the thing. We don't know how she might react to an Infinity Stone," Natasha said. "From what we've seen, she's more powerful than Loki. She can block magic. Whatever barrier she's using could potentially resist the Stones."

"But it's impossible to resist the Stone," Hermione contested. "And, I hate to say it, but Asgardian magic is ancient and far more powerful than what any witch or wizard from our world can conjure."

Natasha was quick to retort. "Well, after the Helicarrier attack, Barton seemed to achieve 'the impossible' since he was able to break away from the Mind Stone's influence."

"But he couldn't resist it initially. He was still Loki' puppet for a time."

"It still proves that the Infinity Stones are not infallible. Barton isn't a wizard or a god and he broke free."

Hermione sighed. "I hope you're right, but I just can't place my trust in it."

* * *

Mikan woke to a semi-soft bed and a thick blanket draped across her. Turning her head slightly, she spied her sweater on the table next to her. She reached out to grab it, pausing for the briefest moment as she caught sight of her battered arm.

Hastily throwing on her sweater, Mikan found herself beginning to shake. She wasn't cold, but the memory of that night was worming its way from her dreams to her waking thoughts.

Mikan tried to relax her shaking body, in vain. It was the first time in eight years that she dreamt about that night. Two whole years of her life had been stolen from her. The Alice had been the subject of numerous experiences led by Kuonji, therefore her body had been plunged into a long-induced coma. When she had finally woke up from that deadly state, it was to see that the laboratory where she had been imprisoned had completely blown up. Obviously, she was the only survivor and, even though she didn't want to think too much about it, Mikan knew inside her that the explosion had something with what she had experienced right before her rude awakening.

As much as she had tried, it was impossible for her to feel any remorse. After all, she wasn't the one responsible of an experiment that went wrong… Especially not when she had finally understood what they had made to her. Her Consciousness was clear of any murder, technically...

' _Yes, I have no remorse. I can't possibly feel sorry for such cruel people. Not after what they had turned me into, not after what they had done to Natsume, not after all the pains and humiliations that have been through. They only got more than they had bargained for by pushing their quest of power too far… I won't allow them to drive my life away from me again because of unnecessary sorry feelings._ ' Yes, her body might have been tainted by their dirty schemes, but her mind and soul had remained pure and innocent. ' _Isn't?_ '

Mikan observed her hands as she moved them in front of her eyes. These two years had completely changed her life. Afterwards, she did have to learn to master her new Alices, countless Alices to the point that she still didn't know them all. With a Mind-Reading Alice which was at first too powerful, she did have to find a cloistered place to live in, and she could still here the voices as whispers… She once tried to remove all the Stones from her body, she had spent several weeks doing so, but just as if moved by their own will, they returned every time inside her body.

It was when she had realized three important facts. The first was simple, this was her life and her burden to bear. The second one was that all possible information of what they had done to her had been lost when the laboratory had blown up. And the third fact was the most annoying. The only reason why Kuonji had made all these experiments on her and not on him was her body. As the only remaining owner of the Stealing Alice, her body was the perfect receptacle for such an experiment. While his body could only receive three Alices Stones, hers could host an infinite number.

The young woman sighed as she moved to sit on the chair beside the bed. Mikan cleared her mind and distracted herself by noting every single detail of the capsule and its environment. Of course, it didn't take her long before her attention was drawn to the only interesting thing within the cellblock: Loki.

A turbulent and aggressive aura surrounded his cell.

Oh yes, this was going to be interesting.

* * *

Since the very start of his imprisonment, Loki had been, well the word 'bored' couldn't quite do it justice. He had no items, objects, or even something to fidget with. Magic was out of the question as they surveilled his every movement and according to Fury, he wouldn't hesitate to "drop" him before he could blink.

But that was really for his more overt displays of Magic. And what they did not know, would certainly come back to hurt them.

To add to his torments, he was very tired and weak, drained progressively of his vital energy. His heart sank, and his head was hurting like hell. There were days where he could barely open his eyes… Thanos was enjoying punishing him too much for his own liking… Of course, he held always a perfect composure in front of his enemies Yet, it had become more and more difficult to not let the façade slip.

He knew of the woman in the cellblock and her willing capture. He heard of her powers and how she was even able to combat the annoying little Miss Granger.

But what was a surprise to him was her suddenly apparating into his cell.

He will maintain until he dies that he did not yelp when she appeared.

"What the Hel are you doing?"

Mikan said nothing. She just took him in, her eyes roving across his body. She looked neither pleased nor displeased. He didn't like it.

When her silent observation of him continued, Loki decided to use the time to examine her as well.

She was quite tall for a Midgardian woman. She was lithe and quite appealing even by Asgardian standards. But her eyes did not match the youth her body exhibited.

Their eyes locked and Loki felt as if she were looking into his very soul. In that moment, she (quite uncomfortably) reminded him of Heimdall.

The woman suddenly smiled. It was kind and non-threatening.

"It must be very draining isn't it? It's the first time that I've experienced such a thing. He must be very powerful to have such an overwhelming influence on you. No wonder why you look so tired! Both Mind and Soul, hmm… He didn't go easy on you." she hummed absentmindedly, more to herself than to him.

Loki, who knew perfectly well what she was speaking about, tensed unwittingly. ' _So, she truly is as observant as Heimdall… It wasn't just my imagination then._ '

"You truly are a curious one, aren't you?" he smirked, slightly amused when she tilted her head a little bit more, "What is your name my dear?"

"I'm sorry, I was a bit distracted and forgot all my manners! My name is Mikan Sakura, but I'm pretty sure that you know it already, I've sensed your spiritual presence in my capsule earlier after all! I'm still very pleased to meet you anyway." She continued to smile at him.

She then approached him and before he could say anything, placed one hand over his heart and another on his forehead. Loki didn't move away, he was too curious and had observed her enough to know that she had no ill intent. As she seemed to be very concentrated on what she was up to do, she closed her eyes. Loki smirked knowingly. What an easy prey had come to him. She didn't fear him, or at least tried not to, which had been her first mistake.

His right hand wondered near her face, without making any skin contact. Then, his cool long fingers caressed carefully her check, curious to see how she would react to this. The Midgardian's hazels eyes opened. Her gaze paused on his hand. She studied his fingers and didn't try to find his eyes, without specially trying to avoid eye contact. She didn't try to move away. She knew that this gesture didn't hide any sensual meaning. He was only studying her, curious to see what brought her to his capsule and how useful she could be to him.

At first, Loki didn't feel anything, then the coldness around him let slowly place to a peaceful warm. Both his eyebrows raised as he saw an orange light emanate from where her hand rested over his heart, and then a yellow one where her other hand was. As the mysterious woman in front of him was finished, he could see in her hands two small little gems, a yellow and an orange one... _'Two little miniatures of both the Mind Stone and the Soul Stone!'_ He could feel all the color draining from his already pale face. There were no words for this.

The young woman in front of him had achieved the impossible. This Mikan Sakura had easily captured the essence, which was inside of him, of two of the six most powerful artefacts in the whole Universe, and had managed to successfully extract them by giving them the form of two little gems… And he could bet that she didn't understand the true enormity of what she had just done.

"You're free from him now," she said kindly before stepping away and disappearing.

Loki could still feel the warm on the two places her hands had been. He had lived for now two thousands of years, and he still could count on one hand the number of people or things that had managed to truly surprise him, let alone render him of all people speechless. Mikan Sakura just found herself added to that list.

* * *

Mikan was now sitting on her bed, contemplating the two small gems in her hands as they began to disappear into her body. She was perfectly aware of their nature.

It was a truth universally acknowledged that Mikan Sakura wasn't known for her cleverness. But, after eight years of research about everything concerning the Alices, their natures, origins, and any others information which could help her master her new powers, she could easily claim possessing a very good knowledge about Alices Stones, Infinity Stones, and many other subjects that she shouldn't be aware of.

Looking for information had been a hard and frustrating task, since there was only a very little number of books, and article about each of these subjects, and they were spread all over the world. Mikan had achieved it only thanks to her countless Alices, which have proved themselves to be sometimes very helpful.

During her investigation she had discovered many hidden societies and communities, just as Kamar-Taj for instance. It has been a lucky discovery since the only person she had ever entrusted about her personal quest was the Ancient One. The latter had gladly allowed her to consult the books of their library. Their trust had been mutual, and Mikan even considered her a good and beloved friend. She had also sympathized with Wong, Karl and Stephen...

Mikan smiled fondly, her searching in the Ancient One personal collection did always get on the nerves of Wong and he kept repeatedly saying to her the same words to her over and over again: ' _No knowledge in Kamar-Taj is forbidden. Only certain practices. Some books are far too advanced for anyone other than the Sorcerer Supreme and you are only sticking your nose in these particular ones!_ '. To Wong's despair, Mikan and Stephen had developed the perfect strategy to sneak out of the library with more books than they were allowed to borrow, that they would read in the Mirror Dimension. ' _Mostly forbidden ones, of course..._ ' Mikan smirked.

Later, fearing for Wong's sanity, the Ancient One had given to her complete access to her books which had allowed her to make some very interesting discoveries… Indeed, the young woman had been introduced to the Infinity Stones for the first time. Since she had observed some similarities between these two kinds of Stones, she chose to expand her research to them as well. And she hadn't been disappointed. Three years later she had finally discovered the only article making the link between Alices Stones and Infinity ones:

" _The Soul Stone is the only one of the six Infinity Gems which no one, supposedly of course, knows where it is contained, nor it's full power […] I still thought so, until I met a very powerful Asgardian wizard, or Sorcerer as he wants me to call him, named Allice few weeks ago. __[…] He needed someone able to study the capacities and proprieties of his new discovery. Therefore, he came to me._

 _[…] It had turned out that it was the lost Soul Stone. I wonder where he had found it…_

 _[…] Today Allice was furious. Odin had banished him from Asgard. I think that he tried to steal the Space Stone which was under Odin's care: The Tesseract. I guess that he was too disappointed by the power of the Soul Stone, which is quite useless to him._

 _[…] He is working on a new project. I think that he wants to create another kind of powerful Stones. Certainly copies of each of the six Infinity Stones, while using the Soul Stone to provide enough energy for their creations._ _[…] I guessed right! He had achieved to create two kinds of Stones. The first is called the Philosopher's Stone. It derives its power from people's souls, allowing its owner to extend his life as he pleases. He asked me to keep it under my personal care. __[…] The second kind of Stones has surprised both of us. The Soul Stone did give it one of its own properties: it was sentient, and it has its own will! At first, we thought that his creation had failed, since it didn't work on him, nor on me. It later turned out that these Stones, Alices Stones as he likes to call them, are the ones who chooses their owners!_

 _[…] These Stones, which initially were only of the number of four and still with a lot of unknown properties, have the ability to split or duplicate themselves to infinity._ _[…] A same Stone can give a completely different kind of power to each of its owners, so we deduced that the Stones adjust themselves according to their owners' souls' natural dispositions!_ _[…] For unknown reasons, they can only choose Midgardians and they insert themselves in their bodies, we can't see any physical differences between an Alice and a simple Midgardian._ _An Alice Stone links itself to the soul of its owner right before his birth._ _[…] Their power isn't, apart for few exceptions, very powerful, and sometimes they happen to be completely useless!_

 ** _[…] Allice informed me today, that he has managed to create two other Alices Stones, the two most powerful and important ones:_**

 _· The Stealing Alice Stone, which can also be used as an Inserting Alice, allows its owner to remove an Alice Stone from its owner's body, but also allows to insert other Alices Stones inside someone's body. Only the owner of this Alice is compatible to all the others Alices Stones. If someone isn't compatible to an Alice Stone, his body can't accept the Stone, or he is in the impossibility to use it._

 _This Alice Stone is specific due to its genetic character. Not every generation has a Stealing Alice, but it remains in the same family._

 _· The Nullification Alice Stone is the most important one. (It also an only genetically transmittable Alice). It only appears when the threat of the six Infinity Stones being all reunited is high._

 ** _Nota Bene:_**

 _\- Since both of these Alice Stones are fragments of the Soul Stone, their owners can interact with or possess any of the Infinity Stones without fearing being destroyed by them!_

 _\- Were the hosting families of these Alices to completely disappear, both Alices Stones would choose themselves another hosting family. They are also indestructible, which is only logical since they are fragments of the Soul Stone._

 _\- The owner of the Stealing Alice Stone can remove any remaining trace of Infinity Stones on someone's body, by giving it the shape of an Alice gem. The owner should then insert them inside his own body, in order to prevent any possible accident._

 ** _- In the presence of the Nullification Alice Stone an Infinity Stone sees its functions reduced. If all the Infinity Stones were to be reunited, their owner would be dismissed of at least half its power._**

 _Source: The personal diary of Sir Nicolas Flamel._

It wasn't hard to guess what Mikan had first fought about this: "Fuck!" Then, she had begun to really register the meanings of all these information:

1- Alice Stones had been created by an Asgardian with the little help of the Soul Stone. (Thinking about it, it seemed now undeniable. This would explain Hotaru's ability to give a soul to her creations, Yoichi's to interact with the dead's souls thanks to his Evil Spirit Alice. The more relevant argument was, of course, Kaname's Soul Transfer Alice…).

2- She had two bloody fucking fragments of that same Infinity Stone inside her body, since she had the two Alices in question.

3- An intergalactic apocalypse was to or could happen anytime soon. (Considering her luck, she was quite sure that it was meant to happen…).

4- She was in deep shit.

Mikan sighed at the unpleasant memory.

She could feel now all of Loki attention turned on her. She simply ignored it. Mikan knew what he had done, and she was pretty sure that he would have done it even without being under the control of that mysterious being. However, Mikan didn't regret helping him. She had to do it and would have done it even without it being a necessary. She couldn't help it: after having her life taken away from her as she was controlled like a doll, wrapped around the fingers of Kuonji, she didn't have the heart to watch anyone suffering from like she did in the past. Being that intruded, that violated, it was the worst thing that she had ever experienced in her life… So yes, it didn't matter to her if Loki was an evil manipulative being or a lost soul.

Mikan finally closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep.

* * *

From his cell, Loki observed Mikan as she let her body absorb the two gems, slightly frowning. He had never heard about such things as what he had just witnessed!

This young woman had already proved herself very skillful and powerful since she her confrontation with the Avengers. In fact, for him the only fact that she had managed to create such illusions of not one, but three Leviathans was by itself relevant of her impressive capacities. Even him couldn't do such a thing, and he was the most powerful sorcerer in all of Asgard! Then, while he was a true captive, she was able to move as it pleased her inside the Helicarrier. Furthermore, she had said that she was able to sense him when he had projected himself mentally in her capsule to be able to hear her interrogatory. He still wondered how she could possibly be able to do it.

She was looking for something, this was the only reason why she would come inside the Helicarrier. It was obvious, or well it was to him at least.

Loki wondered about who this Mikan Sakura could really be. He had even sensed Asgardian Magic inside her.

 _'Finally,'_ he smirked. _'It might be time to make a new ally.'_

* * *

Tony, Steve, Natasha, Bruce, Thor and a quite amused Hawkeye were patiently watching a very angry Hermione shouting at Fury, wondering what the hell had happened.

"How could do such a thing! And you dare call yourself the leader of an organization fighting for justice!" hissed the witch.

"S.H.I.E.L.D wasn't created for such an honorable purpose, Miss Granger. Its purpose is to protect the world. I don't, and can't afford to regret any decision I've made so far," he responded rather coldly.

"Then I refuse to collaborate with you or your organization any longer. You send children to do your dirty work and you believe it's a right bloody thing to do! You're a bastard!"

Fury brushed off the insult. "You have no idea what you're talking about. And I strongly suggest you don't say anything further."

Hermione refused to cow to him, lifting her chin and looking him dead in the eyes.

"I dare you to stop me. The Wizarding World will never work with S.H.I.E.L.D again." With that, Hermione Disapparated.

The tension was still palpable and no one risked speaking.

Not bothering to acknowledge anyone else in the room, Fury finally turned and left.

Once he was sure the Director was gone and definitely out of earshot, Barton piped up.

"Well that was fun."

* * *

When the Avengers arrived at Mikan's cell, they found her already waiting for them, just like she had the day before. When they entered she was humming peacefully while playing with her hair, she only nodded at them for greetings.

"So, you've totally recovered," stated Natasha.

"It seems so," she shrugged. "Where is the witch by the way?" she asked, even though she already knew what had happened in Fury's Headquarters.

It was now Natasha's turn to shrug it off.

"We are going to pursue your interrogation." she simply stated, ignoring Mikan's question. The latter lifted a curious eyebrow but remained silent.

"Well, ask."

"Why was the former Elementary School Principal of the Academy so interested in you?" started Stark.

"My mother was in the possession of the Stealing Alice, which allows one to remove an Alice from someone's body. You combine it with the Inserting Alice and so you can give the Alice to someone else. When she was still a student, he used her to collect a lot of Alices Stones. My father, who worked in the Academy as a teacher, tried to stop him. Few weeks later, he was murdered. Other teachers immediately helped my mother to escape, but before this, she inserted some Alices Stones in Kuonji's body, I don't know which ones, but they badly weakened him. When he finally made the link between me and my mother, he thought that I might be the solution to cure him…"

"Do you have that Stealing Alice?" asked Steve.

"No," she lied. "My father had the Nullification Alice, this is how Kuonji understood that I was Yuka Azumi's daughter, since it is a very rare Alice."

"Then, how does it come that you have so many Alices?" reasoned a suspicious Black Widow.

"Two years after he faked our death, he began "experimenting" on me. I honestly don't know what he did to me back then, since he put me in a coma for most of it. I was under two years before I woke up surrounded by dead men. Kuonji was one of them. There had been an explosion. I still didn't know I could have survived. However, I later occasionally discovered that my body was full of Alices Stones…" it wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the entire truth either.

"What have you done this past eight years?"

"I've busied myself dismounting organizations that threatened the security of Alices."

"Aren't you sure it wasn't just for revenge?" Natasha asked, not at all trusting Mikan's benevolent version.

"I don't kill or torture people. Making sure they spend the rest of their miserable lives in prison works for me," she replied earnestly.

As the interrogation went on, Natasha and Tony quickly took the lead, volleying questions in rapid succession. They probably hoped to trip her up, make her confess something she shouldn't. But Mikan responded patiently to every question, mostly telling them the truth, or at least, not telling complete lies.

"How can we be sure that you are not colluding with Loki?" Thor asked, approaching her.

"To be honest, I don't think that there is a way to prove it. Though we have already established my resistance to magic."

Thor, who had been fiddling with his Hammer up until now, set it on the table in front of her with a heavy thud.

"Lady Sakura, I do not believe someone must be under Loki's spell to want to help him. I know my brother and his charms."

"If it will put your mind at ease, please know that I would never endanger the lives of innocent people by associating myself with your brother. My 'attack' was an illusion and I ensured no civilians were harmed," she replied easily.

He looked at her with doubtful eyes but stayed silent.

As the interrogation resumed, Mikan's replies became distracted. Thor had left his Hammer on the table. She hadn't paid it much thought when he first set it there, just taking the move for what it was: an intimidation technique. But there was just something about it.

She finally spotted it. It was faint, but the longer she observed it, the brighter it seemed to be. Emanating from Thor's mighty Hammer was the same aura as the Soul Stone. There was a pleasant hum to it as well.

She could feel its power and she knew there was a great and fearsome magic within.

It was such a beautiful artefact.

Completely ignoring the other people in the room, Mikan reached out and grabbed the handle, running her thumb over the raised designs on the grip.

Wanting to get a better look at the engravings on the head of the Hammer, Mikan swung it up, momentarily surprised at how light it was.

"What?"

Thor's soft question was enough to break her focus from the Hammer.

Back in the moment, the god of Thunder stood closest in front of the table, staring at her with wide eyes. Peeking around him, the rest of the Avengers held similar looks of disbelief.

Barton snorted. "Well that fucking settles it."

 **AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA**

 **A.N:**

 **So here we are X)**

 **Mikan: 1 / Loki: 0**

 **Our little Mikan had rendered our dear Loki completely speechless! XD**

 **I really hope that you have enjoyed their interaction...**

 **Yes, Mikan is able to remove illness from someone else's body, her Stealing Alice and Healing Alice are really powerful... Then she surprises us again by Stealing from him the remaining of the Stones influences, which allowed Thanos to control Loki. How was she able to do it?**

 **It just seems that Alices Stones and Infinity Stone can interacts...**

 **Yes, in my theories, Thanos is already in the possession of the Soul Stone.**

 **Considering the plentiful analogies between the two kinds of Stones I thought that it could be logic to make it be that way. Indeed, there are Alices with very similar properties with Infinity Stones...**

 **As for Mikan and the Soul Stone, it just seems that GAwriter guessed right ;)**

 **I think that Mikan can certainly be worthy of Thor's Hammer. Indeed, she is selfless, remained innocent even after all what happened in her life, she is also very loyal, brave and open-minded.**

 **As to the special interaction between Mikan and Mjolnir, it can be explained by the fact that they both have fragments of the Soul Stone inside of them.**

 **Mjolnir can't possibly choose who is worthy to hold him without being sentient... Having a fragment of the Soul Stone inside it would allow him to judge people souls...**


	3. Of Little Games and Thanos' Threat:

**Hi everyone ! Here is the third chapter :) I really hope that you are enjoying this story ^^**

 **Please review and tell me what you think about it!**

 **Once again, a big thanks to Darksidefan5 ^^**

 ** **Disclaimer: I do not own neither Gakuen Alice, which belongs to Tachibana Higuchi, nor Avengers, which belongs to Marvel and even less Harry Potter, which is the work of the wonderful J.K.R :) But I do own the plot and my OC characters of course.****

 **Chapter 3: Of Little Games and Thanos' Threat:**

Thor opened his mouth as if to speak, closed it, and then finally opened it again:

"Mjolnir seems to consider you worthy enough to hold it." he finally stated.

"So, you are called Mjolnir…" said Mikan in a sing-song voice, happily stroking the Hammer, making its humming only wider. She smiled at it.

"A-Are you… Are you stroking it?" asked Thor faintly.

"I've never seen such an artefact like this before," she explained, "it is genuinely humming at me!" Mikan smiled, before to frown slightly realizing what Thor had just told her. "When you said earlier that Mjolnir considered me worthy enough, did it mean that not everyone can hold it?" she asked, tilting slightly her head.

"This Hammer is very special, Lady Sakura. Only the worthiest beings in the Nine Realms can lift it. No one can possibly trick Mjolnir in any way. It is a real honor to be chosen by it."

"How is that even possible? Saint Steve, Barton, and Hulk can't lift it let alone my wonderful and amazing self. What makes her special?" Tony asked a bit peeved.

Mikan blushed not really knowing what to do or to say.

Suddenly, the young woman frowned. She knew that the Hammer was sensitive, but now Thor inwardly explained her the purpose of it. Her intuition was right. The artefact contained a fragment of the Soul Stone, so it could judge beings' souls. It couldn't be tricked Thor said, in any way.

"Do you know who forged it? After all, not everyone can do such a thing as giving a soul to his creations." she asked him, even though she had already made her guess. _But it doesn't hurt to have a little confirmation, does it?_

"Yes. Mjolnir's creator was a very talented and powerful Sorcerer, called Allice. He gave it as a present to Father."

Mikan tensed, stuck on the word "was". She tried not to feel, and of course not to seem, too disappointed. If she had been given the chance to meet the creator of the Alices, and particularly of the Nullification and Stealing ones, it would be so much easier for her to better understand the situation she was in.

"If I may ask, did you say just "was"? I thought that Asgardians were immortals." she tried to push her luck a little bit.

"Well, we are indeed, but he was killed by Thanos." Thor stopped as he saw all the color drained from her face. "Are you alright Lady Sakura?"

"Yes… yes, I'm sorry, it is just… it's my back… it's still quite hurting me…," she lied. _Lamely_. "I don't really feel well… can we possibly continue this discussion later or tomorrow…"

The Avengers looked at each other, nonplussed. No one had believed the now trembling woman in front of them. But, they did as she requested. They too needed time to process everything they'd learned today anyway.

When only Thor remained in the confinement capsule, Mikan walked silently toward him and handed Mjolnir back to him. When he understood that she wasn't going to tell him anything, he only nodded to her before to leave the room.

Mikan, now alone in her capsule, headed toward her bed with shaking legs.

* * *

Thor was too lost in his thoughts to really pay attention to what the others were saying. Who was this woman? At first, she appeared out from nowhere, created a complete chaos in New York without really harming anyone, made the six members of the Avengers run for their money, let herself imprisoned without any resistance when he was pretty sure that she could easily escape from their grasp, and then she surprised him again by lifting Mjolnir. How did she know that Mjolnir was sentient? Was she really a threat? Could he trust her now that she had been given the precious honor to lift Mjolnir?

Thor abruptly stood up and leaved his friends without any warnings… Heimdall could probably give him more information about this enigmatic Lady Sakura…

 _'Count always on Heimdall to know when he is needed.'_ thought Thor, as the familiar brilliant beam of energy covered him.

Thor was now facing the golden eyes of the Bifrost's Gatekeeper. He was like always, standing, while holding the hilt of his impressive sword, in the center of his Observatory…

"Nothing can escape you as always my friend! It is good to see you again!" smiled Thor, comforted by Heimdall's company.

"It is the point of being omniscient" responded the all-hearing and all-seeing Asgardian.

"As you already know, old friend, I need to know more about this young Midgardian. I can't decide myself. She is powerful and dangerous, but I've the feeling that she isn't a threat. I wonder what you could tell me about her."

"The Midgardian Mikan Sakura is a very interesting woman. I've been keeping an eye on her since her birth. I've observed how she had faced all the issues she encountered in her life. She isn't one to fear taking the most difficult choices in order to do the right things. She is brave and selfless. I knew that Mjolnir would consider her worthy enough to lift him... You can be assured that she isn't a threat."

"I take it that we have to trust her? But why did she fake a Chitauri invasion then?" enquired a cautious Thor.

"She's seeking something in the possession of S.H.I.E.L.D. She had to destroy it. I won't tell you any more than this because it is only going to put her in danger. There is a task that she has to accomplish. She must do it, she is the only one who can achieve it. You and these Avengers should not try to stop her, it is a matter of intergalactic security. Were Thanos to find her, he would kill her without hesitation. Mikan Sakura has only ever had herself to rely on. It may be best to let her continue on this path alone."

"You are saying not to help her?"

"I am saying that her abilities are a powerful temptation to most, even the most good hearted."

"What should we do then?"

"Trust her. And be wary of Fury in regards to this matter. I fear he may become great hindrance," he advised, before to add: "Thor, just for you to know, the young Mikan Sakura and I have more on common than you think…"

* * *

Mikan Sakura had now established for a very long time that she was a very unlucky person. A living magnet for trouble! Just leave it to her to always find a way or another to be brought into the most awkward, impossible and dangerous situations...

 _'This is bad, really bad! so bloody freaking bad!'_

Thanos was in the possession of the Soul Stone. The Mad Titan, the Intergalactic Conqueror, the most feared being in the whole Nine Realms, was in the possession of an Infinity Stone. She had to face three problems now:

1- Allice was the last and only registered owner of the Stone, she was quite sure of it. If Thanos had token the time to kill him by himself, it only meant that it was to gain the Soul Stone. And surely, he wanted to possess more than one. _'Is he the threat that I'm bound to face? The one who is going to try to reunite the six Gems?'_

2- Loki had been under the control of someone who possessed both Mind and Soul Stones. This meant that Thanos was the one who controlled him. From what she had heard, the Avengers had discovered the Mind Stone inside Loki's Scepter… It also implied that Thanos was aware that at least one Infinity Stone was on Earth since he sent Loki, and that he had already been in the possession of two Infinity Stones. Now he knew that at least two of the precious gems were there. But since Loki failed him... _'How long will it take before he chose to come collects them by himself? Will we stand a chance against him?'_

3- She may have made a mistake by helping Loki. _'Did Thanos sense the connection shatter?'_ Certainly _. 'How will he react to this? Is my secret endangered?'_

Mikan sighed, there was only one person who could give her some responses to her questions, and he was only two cells away.

* * *

When Mikan finally teleported into Loki's cell, she felt his curiosity, over-confidence and self-contentment humming in the air. It only made him look more suspicious to her. So, for the first time she took a better look at him, since she hadn't paid attention, before, to his physical appearance.

Loki was a tall man, well god, Asgardian or Jotün, whatever… and was at least two heads taller than her. He wasn't as muscular as Thor, rather slim, with svelte shoulders, but Loki was still well built and Mikan knew that he possessed physical abilities far superior to humans. However, none of these special attributes was his principal asset. Indeed, his influence rather laid on both his charismatic personality and his incredible wit.

Yes, Loki was a very beautiful man and he was perfectly aware of it. With his clever, cold and observing eyes, of the brightest shade of green she had ever seen, his harmonious and perfect features, his pale and elegant face, and his raven hair… she understood quite easily why so many people had fallen for his lies or just simply, for him. But it was without counting on Mikan's knowledge on how to deal with charismatic, manipulative and dangerous men. Kuonji, was of course just a slight apercu of a now rather long list.

In such occasions, Mikan was truly grateful for having two fragments of the Soul Stone inside her body. Indeed, it allowed her to be always able to tell if someone was lying to her or not, which was the reason why she never really needed the Mind-Reading Alice. And god or not, no one can fool an Infinity Stone.

Loki was comfortably sitting on the edge of his bed, the book in his hand no longer the focus of his attention.

"Two visits in one day? I must say that I really appreciate the attention." he smiled, even though it didn't reach his eyes.

 _"Here we go."_ thought Mikan with an expressionless face. She would have to be persuasive and charming enough to get to him.

"I have to admit that I am a curious person. If something or someone takes my interest, I do like to investigate fully and personally." she practically purred the last word.

She was going to enjoy this.

"If it means I earn the pleasure of your company, then investigate away." His smile had a dangerous and seductive edge.

Mikan smiled earnestly in return before pulling the lone chair over in front of the bed and sitting.

"Tell me Loki, you seem to be pretty interested by me: from the instant I stepped in this room I've felt your spiritual presence in my capsule," she began, making him lift a patient eyebrow, waiting to see what she was planning for them. "And, as I've just said, the feeling is kind of reciprocated…" Loki his gaze turned predatory, already seeing what was coming next. "So why not do things civilly? no more spying on each other?" Mikan finally proposed.

Loki observed her. He had always been very gifted when the matter came to guess other's feelings, dispositions, ambitions and weaknesses. It was one of his best assets. Yet, the woman seated patiently in front of him was truly hard to read. He needed, of course, to learn to know her better and was curious about her mysterious dispositions. He was sure that she was his exit ticket and also knew better than to be stopped by her walls. Indeed, she wouldn't come to him with the only intent to entertain him… He smirked. _'She needs me.'_

Mikan remained calm and composed as she watched Loki stand elegantly, rising to his full height. She raised her chin up and looked at him straight in the eyes. Neither of them broke eye contact, even when Loki finally leaned towards her, closing the already little space between them, so their faces were nearly touching.

"But it remains the best way to find the juiciest secrets about the person of interest…" he whispered, his lips now brushing seductively against the sensitive flesh of her ear. Mikan didn't back away even if every cell of her body was screaming her to do otherwise, didn't show signs of any possible fear, or pleasure. He pursued, "Do you have any that could _entertain_ or _please_ me, dear Lady Sakura?"

Loki pulled slightly away, to catch her in the eye again. He was greeted by her innocent and teasing 'you-can-do-better-than-that' smile. If it surprised or disappointed him, he didn't show any sign of it. In fact, Mikan knew that it had actually pleased him. Men like him always appreciated challenges.

"I've better than that... What about a little game?" she asked cheerfully, without responding to his attempt to seduce her. As she saw the sparkle in his eyes, she smiled and tilted her head. "A truth for a truth: It will be fair since both of us can't be lured by any lies! You can set the rules if you want."

He smiled, amused, _'Why not? She truly is a daring one, not that I would complain. It's far more interesting that way'_. He finally pulled away and sat back on the edge of his bed, still close to her.

"Fine. What about five questions each per day? Each day, only one pass will be allowed. If one of us choose to pass a question, he will either do something the other wants him to, or respond to two other questions instead. Do you want to add anything else?"

"Yes, asking twice the same question won't be allowed, as for any request that will ensure your escape from this cell, or simply endanger the world's security."

"It seems pretty fair. You may begin _Young Lady_."

"Call me Mikan, Loki. Just Mikan."

Loki only lifted an eyebrow and made no comment.

Mikan immediately began. "How old are you?"

He seemed to ponder the question for a moment. "I'd say 2,405. Give or take a few years."

"You're like 100 times older than me," she said more to herself than him. "I can't say I blame you for losing track."

"You stop caring after a certain age, Young One. Now, my turn. How did you discover your Alice?

"You know I have quite the thing for getting in trouble: When I was in my fourth grade, I met a girl named Hotaru. They say that opposites attract, and I think that it is true. At first, I disliked her for being so blunt and for keeping such a serious attitude all the time. But we eventually became best friends. We cared deeply for each other, even though she wasn't one to show it… While I was always cheerful and outgoing, Hotaru is the rational and brutally honest one: One day, she was suddenly transferred to the Alice Academy and since I was only 9 back then, I didn't really think twice when I ran away from home to go after her. I, then, literally ran into Narumi-Sensei, who realized that his Alice didn't work on me. The rest is history."

When she was done, Mikan inwardly smiled. Even after all what happened afterwards, she still couldn't bring herself to regret it. It was only after telling this to Loki, twelve years after the event, that she fully realized it. The latter, who was still observing her with his calculating eyes, just nodded her to ask her next question.

"How did you learn to use magic?"

"I've learned the Art of Magic from my mother who had learned it herself from a very powerful Sorcerer, whose name was Allice. I think that you already know few things about him since Thor told you about Mjolnir."

Loki chuckled then leaned forward and spoke.

"I have to admit _Mikan_ , that I was truly bored to death before your arrival in the Helicarrier. Since then, you have never failed to entertain me. Especially earlier, the faces they pulled were priceless!"

Thinking back to her faux attack, the Avengers' frustration and their reaction to her being able to lift Mjolnir, Mikan couldn't help but chuckle herself. It wasn't supposed to be funny. But it was.

As she felt a strong wave of self-contentment emanating from him, she felt quite nonplussed. Was he genuine or did he thought that he was having her?

Suddenly, it hit her. Loki, who didn't want to recognize anymore Odin or Thor as family, still loved his adoptive mother enough to let inwardly his affection towards her slip. Mikan wondered now if his only intent had been to distract her from it…

"My turn." his voice brought Mikan back from her thoughts, she paid now full attention to him. "Were you lying earlier when you said you didn't own the Stealing Alice?"

He didn't need any other kind of confirmation, as he saw her eyes widen and her body went still. Mikan just looked blankly and distantly at him before finally nodding her head.

She didn't allow Loki time to dwell on the matter as she jumped in with her next question, "Why are you a prisoner on Earth and not Asgard? Asgard seems like it would be more capable in keeping you contained. Yet, S.H.I.E.L.D chose to rely on Earth. Why?

Her gaze was penetrating and so very much like Heimdall's. He didn't like that.

"I am here because of my crimes against the good people of Earth."

His voice was saccharine and his smile was worse.

"I wanted the unofficial reason."

"I was banished for the security of Asgard. The one I served may retaliate for my failure to conquer Earth. Odin doesn't want Asgard in the crossfire."

"He sounds very honorable - leaving us to fend for ourselves despite the fact that your master will destroy all of the Nine Realms."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't answer this question, it would be against the last rule of our game." responded Mikan calmly.

His jaw tightened but he let it go. Instead, he leaned, if even possible, closer to her, their noses quasi touching, his eyes trapping hers inside them… He finally cracked a cruel smirk and she couldn't hold back a shiver…

"Isn't it funny that someone, who craves so much for company, would choose loneliness instead of returning to her loved ones? You are struggling with your own self, and I am sure that it has little to do with that 'I-want-to-protect-them-from-me' nonsense. _Mikan dear_ , they say in your Realm that _'The eyes are the mirror of the soul and reflect everything that seems to be hidden…'_ Your eyes are full of secrets, but I can still see the shame buried deeply in them; you are afraid to face your dear friends again: So, tell me _Little One_ , what did you possibly do that you are so ashamed about?" his voice reduced to a murmur, smooth and cold.

The effect was instantaneous. Mikan was now shaking, all the color had been drained from her face. The young woman seemed near to hyperventilate, and Loki wondered if that was it, if he had finally had achieved to break her barriers. At this instant he was sure that she was going to ask to pass this question: _'It just seems that she isn't that strong then…'_

Mikan was truly considering passing this question. She never felt more like a coward than in this instant.

Loki wasn't here for nothing. He didn't need any superpower to read her. Closing her eyes, Mikan took a deep, calming breath.

When she opened them, there was renewed determination.

"You ask me this question in the hope it would weaken me, throw me off my game," her voice grew stronger as she spoke. "There is a good reason why I hate Fury so much. It's the same reason why Miss Granger left S.H.I.E.L.D."

Mikan sat a bit straighter in her seat. "When Natsume and I were only fourteen, S.H.I.E.L.D paid Kuonji for his services. To say the mission was dangerous would be an understatement. It's honestly a miracle that I'm even alive. S.H.I.E.L.D sent us to retrieve an artefact that was protected by a very dark, very powerful magic."

She paused, recomposing herself. "Long story short, I had to kill Natsume. There really was no way around it."

Mikan let the confession hang, watching Loki for any sign of what his thoughts may be on the matter. But his face was devoid of any and all emotion.

She wasn't expecting the god of Mischief to be moved by her story, but his complete lack of response was frustrating. He wanted her to reveal herself to him, but wouldn't even allow her the courtesy of even the smallest reaction.

"You know that quote you said has an end," she began. " _'The eyes like a mirror, they also reflect the person looking into them.'_ Though, I don't know how my eyes reflect your own image. From what I've seen, you struggle to trust anyone, are terrified of being seen as weak, and you allow your emotions to control your actions - the strongest of which is your perpetual self-loathing."

She never got the chance to continue as Loki sprang from his bed and tackled her like a feral animal onto the floor. All his weight was on her, his hand right hand placed menacingly on her throat, while the other one imprisoned firmly her arms over her head. His icy green eyes laid on her cruelly.

"Don't you even dare think that you can understand me!" he hissed at her. "You might be one of the most powerful of Midgardians, but you still remain as pathetic as the other ones of your kind!" He then smiled viciously at her, "You are so breakable _Little_ _One_... I could crush you so easily, after making you beg for it."

Mikan was afraid of course, Loki didn't need his magic to be imposing. His physical abilities were far superior to humans, she couldn't escape from him without using her Alices. Yet, both of them were very aware of the fact that she couldn't possibly escape by teleporting, he would either be brought along with her into her capsule or find his way out of the Helicarrier. Even with her Illusion and Technologies-Mastering Alice, she couldn't possibly dream to hide a possible fight between her and the Asgardian. Pulling a fight with him would ensue to her failing a plan she had prepared for three years, which wasn't also an option. Mikan sighed, she had no other choices.

"Loki, we both know that I have only said the truth. Stop acting like a teenager." she declared calmly, "In fact, I dare you to kill me, but what will you gain from it? Tell me. You know that I'm your only chance to get out of here, especially when Thanos is now _for sure_ coming after you…" she finally warned him.

Loki stiffened, but eventually loosened his grip on her arms. He didn't move from his position over her though. She didn't try to pull away either.

"What makes you think that Thanos is after me?" Loki asked quietly.

"Don't give me that Loki. Thanos killed Allice, who was the last owner of the Soul Stone. Yet the being who was controlling you, and who sent you to bring him the Tesseract, or in other words, the Space Stone, was the owner of both the Mind and Soul Stones. It isn't hard to put the pieces altogether. Just to say it out loud, this morning I've released you from his grip without thinking twice about it. Which means that he is now aware that someone on Earth is able to counter him and I don't really think that the Mad Titan appreciated this. Now, at least two Infinity Stones, the Asgardian who failed him, and the mysterious being who was able to remove entirely the essence itself of an Infinity Stone out of that same Asgardian, are on Earth… What a better way to kill two birds with one stone than to come to you Loki? All realms want you dead and he won't spare you. In other words, Loki, I'm your only hope." Mikan finally stated.

Slowly, Loki removed himself from above her and helped Mikan sit down. They were now in a more decent position. The young woman was patiently waiting for him to speak first.

"What are expecting from me? For a Midgardian, you are very well informed on these subjects, _Little One…_ Am I wrong to suppose that your presence in here has something to do with the Infinity Stones?" he said, finally breaking the silence.

"Loki, few years ago, I've became aware of the existence of the other Realms and that the threat of the six Stones being reunited is to its highest. When I came here, I didn't expect that the one chasing after the six of them was Thanos. In fact, I kind of hoped that such a thing wasn't going to happen at all…" Mikan replied quietly. "As for how to respond to this threat, I've have my part to do, but I've absolutely no idea if this will be sufficient. Just as for what I am expecting from you. You're not someone to be easily trusted and the situation is too grave to be even more endangered by one of your schemes. " she simply stated.

"I may want to conquer Asgard and Midgard, but what would be the point of it if they are to be destroyed?" Loki countered, frustrated. "You need my help. I am the only person in your access, who knows enough about Thanos, the way he thinks and his possible plans: when he will come after the two of us, you will need this. Furthermore, you know you'll need my help if you're trying to keep him from collecting the Gem. As for what you are looking for and I'm pretty sure that you are looking for something, it is obvious that it is in the possession of the S.H.I.E.L.D, and that you can't rely on them to help you, nor give it to you. Then, even though you are really powerful, it still isn't enough to even dream about facing Thanos, let alone beat him. You still have no access to the other Realms, and I am one of the few people who knows every one of them very well. I don't need the Bifrost to go wherever I want." he argued.

"You guessed right. I am, indeed, looking for something. An artefact that must be destroyed. That's the reason why I can't rely on the S.H.I.E.L.D since Fury sees it as a possible weapon or as a very strong power source. But, regarding to the last things you have said, it still doesn't ensure me that you won't stab me in the back as soon as you get your hands over an Infinity Stone or anything like that. I have to find a way to make sure that you won't try anything of that kind."

Loki chuckled and put dramatically a hand over his heart.

"You have wounded my already bleeding heart _Mikan_ " he sighed theatrically. "To get out of this situation, the better would still be to cooperate. Cross my heart, _darling_ , I won't betray you." he laughed, a now very amused grin dancing on his lips.

Mikan couldn't help but be amazed again by the quickness of his mood swings and tried to no think about how beautiful was the man sitting few inches near her when he smiled like this. Although he was 2405 as he had declared, he looked younger than someone in his mid-thirties… She was sure that he might have been an adorable person, so sad that he was as impossible as a god of Lies and Mischiefs could be! If only he wasn't so blinded by his feelings...

"Cross your heart… heart… hmm… hearts… cross our hearts" she hummed dreamily, trying to figure out a way to be able to entrust him.

"Cross our hearts, you said?" frowned Loki.

"I beg your pardon?" asked Mikan, nonplussed.

"You said cross our hearts: you are in possession of a fragment of the Soul Stone, aren't you? Do you think that you would be able to use it?" he explained reluctantly.

Loki hated the idea. But he had no other choices. If Thanos was to come after him and especially after the Stones, he would kill him, but he would also destroy both Midgard and _Asgard_ , which meant losing his people, his throne but mostly _endanger his Mother's life_. Something that he would never allow, not even in million years!

As much as he hated to admit it, he needed the Midgardian woman, now that they were to be Thanos firsts targets… She was the only one who would possibly accept to help him, without her he had no possible way to escape from him (especially not when he was still confined in that cursed capsule), and her powers might be more than helpful… But he had, firstly, to convince her that she needed him too. And to win her trust...

"A-are you trying to say that you want us to bound ourselves through the Soul Stone to ensure our fidelity to each other?" asked hesitantly Mikan, who didn't really appreciate that idea either…

"Exactly."

"Why would you accept to do such a thing?" Mikan was truly curious to know.

She watched him carefully, as he pursed his lips. Mikan sensed his conflicted feelings. He _did have to_ explain it to her, even though he didn't want to do it. And she truly needed to be convinced by him, and he knew it better than anyone else.

"To let Thanos do as he please would firstly mean to let him get to me, which is not an option. Then if he achieves to collect the six Gems, I won't have any kingdom to rule or possess. Finally, I don't want to lose Asgard to this man. Especially not when my mother is living on it." he admitted through gritted teeth.

Mikan sensed that he had been earnest, which had really annoyed him… She tilted her head and thought about her options. Now that he said it, she couldn't ignore that she was desperately in the need of someone else's help. If she was to have access to other Realms, she would be able to have a better knowledge about the Stones and maybe even to hide them or to increase their security.

When she had prepared herself to this mission, she still had been hoping that, (even though that with her luck it was so unlikely to happen), no one would try to collect the six Gems, and wished that she could live the rest of her life in peace. Now this was most likely to happen, and she was partly responsible for it… Mikan sighed at the thought and looked at the man in front of her. Yet, she could blame him for the death of thousands of people, but not truly for this situation. If it hadn't been him, Thanos would have send someone else.

"What do you think of it, _Little One_?"

"… I think … that we might do this. But then, what do plan for us to do? I haven't really thought about such a situation when I came here! I knew that maybe a crazy being somewhere in the Universe might try to do such a thing… never thought that it would be the Mad Titan himself!" she admitted.

"First, tell me what are you looking for?" he enquired patiently.

"I'm not sure that I should tell you… Even after, _(and if we really do this)_ , we're bound. Actually, there are two that I want to destroy: one that is primordial for everyone's safety and the second artifact is the same one I had to deal with back then with Natsume. I may be the only being in the whole Universe that can't be really affected by their powers: I'll have to do it alone, or it will end up like ten years ago."

Loki pursed his lips. He didn't like being kept in the dark about such an important matter, but he would have to deal with it for now.

"How long will it take for you to be done with this?"

"Not more than two or three days. In the meantime, I'll do also some research about Bounding-Souls. I think that the best would be to bound right before I destroy it, we won't have much time to do this after since I won't be able to hide it. Even with my Alices. And I won't risk to free you without having previously bounded ourselves." Mikan declared.

"Where do you intend us to go afterwards?"

"First, we are going to my grandfather's place. I've few things that I'll need to take along, as my researches work… Then, we will head to my house. It's highly protected and the S.H.I.E.L.D won't be able to find it."

"If Thor asks for Heimdall's help, I doubt that it would be sufficient." Loki countered.

"Heimdall won't help the S.H.I.E.L.D. or Thor. After all, he is omniscient, which means that he is already aware of the aim of my powers. If he is as wise as from what I've read, he won't tell a soul about it or he will ask your brother to help us."

Loki's emerald eyes darkened at the mention of Thor. He clenched his hands into fists. As he was going to tell her what he thought about this, Mikan beat him to it:

"Yes, your _Brother_ , because that what he is Loki. When Miss Granger came into my cell yesterday I activated my Mind-Reading Alice. I can't choose just one person to focus into, so I've also heard his thoughts. I was surprised to see how much he still deeply cares and constantly thinks about you. If one of you two should complain about anything it should be him. _You have only caused him endless pain in return of his endless love!_ ", she told him sternly. "And the reason why he still suffers so much is because _he still does_. ' _We were raised together, we played together, we fought together! Don't you remember none of that?'…_ Doesn't it remind you of anything?

Don't even think that you can intimidate me, Loki. In fact, if we are going to team up together, you will have to get used to this." she added as he brusquely grabbed her by her wrist and pulled her closer to him menacingly. His lips curved into a cruel smirk, as he cocked his head to the side.

Mikan had lied. Of course, she was intimidated by him, he seemed ready to eat her alive… Then again, she wasn't one to be stopped by her fears, especially when she was only facing a grown brat.

"And pray tell me _Little One_ , what can you possibly knew about real pain?" he whispered coldly, his cold breath sending shivers through her body.

Mikan smirked, looking haughtily at him. As his grasp tightened painfully around her now bruised wrist, she let out a humorless and cold laugh.

"What do I know about real pain? Certainly, more than you do! So, what!? I've also been adopted, and unlike you, I've never made a fuss about it! I've witnessed my parents dying in front of me, being as helpless as a twelve years old child can be! Tell me Loki, where are your parents? ALIVE in Asgard. And don't give me that 'they-are-not-my-parents' bullshit. They have raised you for 2405 years for God's sake! Earlier you called Frigga ' _Mother'_ , which means that still consider yourself _her son_! My grandfather, the man who adopted me, let himself die from sadness, thinking that I was dead. When I came back to see him, it was already too late. He died alone, and I wasn't even given the chance to tell him how much I was grateful for everything he did for me, how much I love him or even just say goodbye. You still don't know this pain Loki, but you are heading straight toward it! I had to end the life of someone who meant the world to me: you're lucky that you didn't achieve to kill your brother, because I'm pretty sure that then you would know how it feels. Again, you are the one _imposing these superficial sorrows_ to yourself. I may have suffered from countless physicals tortures, but the heart's and mind's injuries were the most painful ones. Yet you are the one who asked for it, since you went to Thanos according to your own will! I was imposed my exile from my loved ones! In your case, you were the one looking for it! The worst is to have no choice over your own life Loki. I have been taken the chance to live mine twelve years ago. But you, you are wasting yours for nothing! You are fully aware of it and this is the reason why you hate yourself so much!" Mikan stopped as she sensed Loki releasing her wrist, her hazel eyes now full of unshed tears. "You keep hurting people around you, and destroying the most beautiful things for no reasons… But you still remain free. Free to change your life, free to be happy again, free to stop acting like a spoiled brat whining for attention! I'm heading back to my capsule. I'm coming back tomorrow, until then I hope that you will fully understand that I'm not going to associate myself with someone who will try to hit me each time I'll only state the truth!" she simply added.

Now, Mikan just wanted to flee from his cell. It was too full of his personal turmoil. _Frustration, Anger, Hatred, Self-Hatred, Shame, Loneliness, Pain_ … As he wasn't touching her or even looking at her, she took this opportunity to go back to her capsule. It was the first time in twelve years that she had such an outburst. Putting him back to his place by confronting him with her own personal experience had just been one of the most difficult things she had ever done in her life…

When she sat on her bed, Mikan felt, for the first time in seven years, hot tears slip down her cheeks. She was shaking. Until confronting Loki, she hadn't realized the seriousness of the situation. Although she had guessed that Thanos was going to come to Earth any time soon, she still hadn't fully realized it. Now the fear was building inside her as she understood that Hotaru, Luca, Tsubasa-Sempai and all the others would be exposed to that threat! She might have to face him. No. She would certainly have to face him. And the only thought of it made her shiver.

Mikan had never felt as lonely as when she had been in Loki's presence. Even though she had kept her barriers strong and firm in front of him, the young woman had never felt so weak in her life. She felt so tired, so weak, and so unsure of herself. She had just planned to get rid of that cursed artefact! Now she was going to be hunted down by Thanos himself, with no one other the god of Lies and Mischiefs himself as only possible ally. The worst was the bounding soul part... She couldn't trust him any other way. But his soul was so tortured, tormented and so full of suffocating emotions… Would she be able to handle this?

Mikan, now lying down, cried herself to sleep.

 **AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA**

 **A.N:**

 **So here we are X)**

 **I really hope that you have enjoyed this chapter!**

 **In fact, bounding soul for Loki and Mikan means that they will never be able to betray each other. It's quite the same thing as making an Unbreakable Vow in the Harry Potter Universe...  
**


	4. Of Worries, Investigations and Trickery:

**Please review and tell me what you think about it!**

 ** **Once again, a big thanks to the marvelous Darksidefan5 for beta-reading my story ^^  
****

 ** **Disclaimer: I do not own neither Gakuen Alice, which belongs to Tachibana Higuchi, nor Avengers, which belongs to Marvel and even less Harry Potter, which is the work of the wonderful J.K.R :) But I do own the plot and my OC characters of course.****

 **Chapter 4: Of Worries, Investigations** **and Trickery** **:**

Luca Nogi was absolutely, drastically, and utterly annoyed. Of course, he always enjoyed when his family was all together reunited... the only sour note was that Hotaru and his mother were enjoying this way too much. He had quickly accepted that he was Hotaru's favorite subject of intrigue and blackmail. He had also thought that after fifteen years she might get bored, but he had been so wrong. In fact, it had only increased, especially after Hotaru had meet his mother, who had naturally become her best customer. The worst was that Hotaru enjoyed the teasing and blackmail so much that him so much that she 'worked' for free with his mother. _For free_! Don't get him wrong still, Luca was truly found of Hotaru, even though their relation was only platonic: they had for a long time accepted each other as family…

Hotaru had been the most affected one by Mikan's and Natsume's death, she had been on the edge of the depression. Indeed, Mikan and Hotaru were so close that he even wondered if his friendship with Natsume had been as deep as theirs. But the emotional breakdown happened after her parents' death in a car crash. Subaru, who was also inside the car, had mysteriously disappeared ever since… It had been horrid, she had stopped talking to others, stopped eating, even stopped crafting new inventions and even her notorious blackmail. He had never been as worried for someone as he had been for her back then. He knew that she wasn't the suicide-type, but after losing his best friend and Mikan, the only thought of losing Hotaru was simply unbearable. He was the one who brought her back to life. It had been hard, and he had to very patient with her, but they eventually achieved to overcome the pain together. Since then, Luca had become very protective of Hotaru, who had finally opened herself to him.

Luca and Hotaru lived now together, after graduating from the Academy. They had bought a house with a farm near Tokyo. The house was big enough, so it could contain Hotaru's impressive laboratory and a rich library. They were also frequently visited by his mother and father once or twice a month, and between two visits, Hotaru always found numerous of ways to foul him, naturally

Hotaru had grown into a very beautiful woman, after all she already was when she was younger... Her clever violet eyes were still shining mischievously the same way they did when he first met her, her black hair now reached the middle of her back, she was slim and quite tall, even though he was still three heads taller than her. Indeed, Luca was now 190cm tall, thanks to his French origins' pack. He wasn't the kind of guy to pull himself into fights, but he was muscular; fact that, in many cases, helped him to better take care of his animal friends…

The two of them always got into small fights, which were often one-sided since Hotaru didn't care, or rather wasn't impressed by his annoyed outbursts. Just as this very instant.

"For God's sake Hotaru! Where the hell did you get this one?!"

"Lulu dear, language." his mother scolded him.

"Mother, I'll behave myself the day both of you will stop tricking me."

The blonde woman, who didn't seem to have aged in the last eighteen years, smiled innocently at him and beamed at Hotaru, whose lips turned up into a small smirk. Annoyed, Luca headed to his farm. Even his animal friends, _the traitors_ , he had quickly found out, helped the Blackmail Queen.

He stayed in the farm until his mother finally left the house. " _When those two are together, they are just so unbearable…_ ". He kissed her goodbye and opened the door to be greeted by the serious eyes of Hotaru, who, slightly frowning, had been waiting for him.

"Is there anything wrong?" he asked quite worried, since Hotaru wasn't the type to show her unease.

"I've been waiting for us to be alone to show you this." she only responded.

Luca followed her as they headed silently to her laboratory. Once they entered it, Luca couldn't help, as always, to feel proud of his adopted sister's work. Between the sight of the creative inventions still in construction or finished, and the impressive computers board, he was once again hit by Hotaru's intelligence, which allowed her to make the most efficient use of her Invention Alice.

Hotaru, went straight to the computers board and began to explain:

"As you already know, Shiki asked me two years ago to create a fake Data-Base for the Academy. One that could be cracked. For cases just like these.

As I've putted in it a virus that can't be spotted, it allows me to know who are the ones who try or achieve to crack that Data-Base, to redraw their traces on it and what they could have been looking for, and finally to hack their network of computers back.

Yesterday, no one else than the S.H.I.E.L.D itself, an international organization created to protect the world, tried and achieved to get through it." she stated, frowning.

"What were they looking for?" asked Luca, nonplussed. "The world has always trusted the Academy to apprehend wayward Alices."

"That's where it becomes weird… Two days ago, someone with an incredible amount of Alices had been captured by the S.H.I.E.L.D. That same person faked a Chitauri invasion. They hacked that false base to get information about that Alice. Or it just happens that she calls herself Mikan Sakura _Yukihira_." she declared, her voice trembling at the end.

Luca was thankful of the chair beside him, as he felt his knees turn to jelly.

* * *

Inside her capsule, Mikan sighed, her mind awash. She'd spent the night in tears thanks to Loki's own turbulent emotions. They were frightening as well as pitiful, but the power she felt - that was terrifying.

Mikan was too much of a coward to activate her Mind-Reading Alice to initiate her quest. If she did from her cell, she would have to expend it to the entire ship, which was a rather daunting endeavor.

The cameras and all her environment forgotten, Mikan was obvious to her awful physical state. Her eyes were red from crying and ark bags had formed underneath. She was practically pulling out her hair in despair and the detached hair seemed to gain a life of its own as it always did when she was truly upset.

The Alice was not to associate herself with Loki, it was now clear to her that it would be the most stupid and careless decision ever. The only reason why she did even accept to consider it was the fact that she had been standing only a few inches away from him and that Loki was a very persuasive person. She couldn't be more aware of it after this experience… Such a persuasive man that even Mikan, who could see through his very soul by sensing his aura and analyzing his feelings, had been very close to be fooled by him! Loki was undeniably the most dangerous being she had ever been in contact with, and she had underestimated him. After all, not everyone was given the ability to convince her that she had to flee across the Universe with him, just to find his way out of the confinement capsule that held him, and maybe to some Infinity Stones too...

Loki had killed thousands of people (directly and indirectly) and had to be punished for that. If it meant that he had to spend the rest of his eternity in a cell, then she was OK with it. The only problem was that Loki should have been held and guarded by the Asgardians: his presence on the Earth just meant one more danger for its inhabitants.

It was now urgent and necessary to move Loki out of the Earth. And all the Stones on it too. But how was she supposed to manage to do this? After all, it was as important to get rid of the Gauntlet, and of the Necklace of Black Pearls too. The Infinity Gauntlet was her priority since it was an Artefact that allowed its owner to hold the six Stones. With that said though, the Gauntlet could be destroyed, as it was one of Allice's creations. She could use her Alices to inhibit its power and annihilate it.

The Necklace in the other hand was a very dangerous Magical Object, which contained a very dark Spirit. The same Spirit that killed Natsume's and possessed his body after the war. The only thought of it sent shivers through her spine. Unlike the Gauntlet, she didn't find any references of it in any of her investigations. She still didn't know how she was to destroy it, but she now knew where she could find information about it. In fact, as she had been analyzing Ms. Weasley thoughts, she had seen something quite similar: she was thinking of it as Mikan and Loki were, to her, threats even more dangerous than a certain Vol of Mort or something like that... Maybe she could find her way to her or to the Wizarding Society and ask for help? But before that, she had to take it with her. She doubted that after destroying one of the S.H.I.E.L.D's most precious guarded secrets, it would be as easy as it had been now to break their defenses.

Mikan knew that the two Artefacts weren't guarded in the Helicarrier. She was also aware that it wasn't the kind of information that were findable by hacking a data-base. All of them were well kept inside Fury's head. This meant that she had to sneak out of the cell and find him. This wouldn't be a difficult task. She did that kind of thing a million times through the past years, she mastered the art of being very discreet when she needed to.

The Alice had tied her long hair and had prepared herself mentally to get into the battle. She still didn't feel ready to face this, but, as always, it didn't matter. Mikan had to do it, and she would, because if she didn't, no one else would. She had let a clone in her cell and had easily achieved to sneak out of her confinement capsule. She had activated the Invisibility and Technology-Mastering Alices, so she would not be easily spotted. Even though she could have sworn that Loki's eyes had followed her all the way long. Maybe his magical abilities could affect her, or at least make him able to sense her, just as well as she was able to sense him.

Through her other discovery, Mikan had learned that the Universe was full of Magic. Indeed, every being had some running through their veins. But some more than the others. The being able to catalyze their own could use freely without having to take from their surroundings, on the contrary of the ones who didn't. The Asgardians were a very clever Kind. Their Sorcerer learned to use both kind of Magics, which made them the most powerful ones: Allice could not be a better example of it, his only achievements were frightening ( _In fact, if she had to blame someone for the situation she was in, he would be her best choice!_ ) Right after the Asgardians Sorcerers, came the Masters of the Mystic Arts: since Mikan had stayed for a while in Kamar-Taj, she had witnessed the Ancient One and Stephen exploits. But it was the first time she heard of a Wizarding Community that need an object to catalyze its magic. From what she had read in Hermione Weasley's thoughts, it was just as if her society came out of one legend book, the wands, the hats, even the flying brooms and even a crystal ball!

 _'Since Alices Stones had been crafted from Asgardians Magic, maybe Alices did have both Earthian/Midgardian and Asgardian Magic running into them?'_

Mikan shook her head and brought her attention back to the present moment. She wanted to make it quickly, so she could get rid of at least one of her problems. She kept walking through the infrastructures of the Helicarrier. She had spotted Thor and kept following him. If she did find the Avengers, Fury would certainly be not too far.

* * *

Natasha, Bruce, Steve and Tony were intently observing the footage on the screen below. They were all grouped around the computers board. It happened in an instant. Mikan who had been sleeping peacefully was up, awake, and practically (literally) pulling the hair out of her head.

"She's playing with us," Agent Romanoff hissed.

"She is able to lift Thor's Hammer" pointed out Steve, "I think that we can trust her, especially when even us aren't able to do the same."

This earned him an eye roll from Tony, even though Bruce nodded his agreement with Steve. His Hulk instincts told him that the woman was trustable.

"Then why is she hiding things from us? It is evident that she isn't a real prisoner and it's really starting to piss me off! It feels the same as it did with Loki last month! I don't think that the Hammer choice should influence us too much. As long as we are not aware of her plans, we have to be cautious."

"Tony is right. We still don't know how much influence she had over us, we have no idea of all the abilities she has, and we aren't even completely certain she isn't working for someone else either. She can heal herself even when she is unconscious, which make her a very resistant opponent. She is also able to take anyone's appearance and is also able to create very realistic illusions, abilities which make her even harder to be caught. Her clones are very powerful… Hell! She is even able to counter Granger's magic! How do you want us to trust her?" Natasha fought.

Thor chose that instant to enter in the room, all heads turned to him. Natasha frowned waiting for him to explain himself for leaving them without any warning the previous day. Thor looked at them a bit sheepishly before to shrug it off. Mikan, who was also there, tried to be as discreet as it was humanly possible.

"What is going on? What have I missed?"

"Well we just have discovered that our new prisoner has been playing with us since the beginning." Natasha stated coolly.

Thor froze. This woman, Mikan Sakura, reminded him way too much of Loki to his own liking, but Heimdall had been very clear about it, they had nothing to fear from her.

Mikan cringed and kicked herself mentally. How could she have been so stupid! She hadn't realized the scale of her mistake. It would be now very difficult for her to gain back their trust, if trust there had ever been... She would have to not drawn in even more attention that she had already had. She didn't want to make them her enemies.

"Lady Sakura is not an enemy. I went to Heimdall, he comforted me about her. In fact, he said that he had been keeping an eye on her for a long time. We do not have to worry about her." Thor nodded as he made his point clear.

The Alice looked at him with wide eyes. She should have guessed it sooner! Of course, Thor would not snub her! As an Asgardian himself, he knew very well the danger of the Stones and from what she had read about the Norse Gods, Heimdall was one of the wisest being in the Universe. He was an all-seeing and all-hearing man, who was able to sense anyone's soul from his Observatory. As wise as the book described him, he advised Thor to trust her. Mikan could feel a wave of gratitude run through her. She looked up to the ceiling and gave one of her brightest smile, hoping it would reach Heimdall, and mouthed him a silent _'thank you.'_ - _Unknown to her, the near omniscient Asgardian smiled back at her._ \- It was all she needed, to have at least one person who trusted her. Mikan kept herself from crying again. _'Yes, I can do it and I will. For Natsume, Hotaru, Luca and anyone else. I was burdened with this task. As the owner of the Two Alices it is my duty to accomplish it. Failure is not an option!'_

Natasha, who didn't seem to be very convinced by it, just sighed and let it go. Thor gave a blind trust to this man. Now that he had told him to do so, there was no way that Thor would interfere if Mikan Sakura was to do something. Bruce and Steve didn't seem to want to ask for more too, and already trusted the girl... And as for Tony, he would remain a bit vigilant but nothing more.

Steve's azure eyes met the red-head brown ones. He was trying to see the situation from her point of view. It was well known that he had the tendency of following his heart, when his friend was more pragmatic. He understood why Natacha had a hard time trusting Mikan Sakura. They had recognized in this child (yes, to him, she was still a child), both the stature of a soldier and a spy. She didn't seem to pay attention to her own stance, but it was so evident… She held her chin always up, her chest out, shoulders back and her stomach in. Mikan presented also a muscular body, she walked without making any sounds and had that feline grace and elegance that only women like herself or Natasha possessed... Natasha didn't like to speak a lot about it, but like Mikan Sakura certainly did have, she had been trained to kill at a young age. Steve was very aware of it. As a very skilled spy herself, the S.H.I.E.L.D agent was constantly very attentive to her environment, and remained always alert. In other words, it wasn't easy to earn her trust. Steve understood this perfectly as it was this behavior that allowed her to survive all these years. Yet, she had learned to trust her friends with her life. Steve couldn't help a proud little smile. The Avengers had progressively grown to friends, and if not more, a family. Steve had no doubt that they were to go through this, especially if Mikan Sakura wasn't the kind of threat they had feared she was.

"What are we supposed to do then?" The Captain asked quietly.

"Just let her be. She has a mission to fulfil and believe me, Lady Sakura doesn't need our help for it."

The latter find herself nodding in agreement but stopped as she realized how stupid she was acting. 'Focus!' She had to find Fury. It would be easy to get her responses by reading their minds but Mikan could no more bring herself to do it, not after she had witnessed Captain America, Doctor Banner and Thor's choice to trust her. She was too sentimental for her own good… Mikan smiled nostalgically; Hotaru and Natsume did always use to remind her of it.

Mikan shook it off again and simply listened to the Avengers talk as the topic devolved into less important matters. But the banter didn't last long - Fury entered the room with Hawkeye on his heels. It was time to get down to business.

* * *

In Hotaru's laboratory, Luca was nervously pacing. Hotaru had easily managed to crack S.H.I.E.L.D's security systems, giving them open access to their entire database, including the video archives. It wasn't long before they were watching footage from the presumed second attack on New York as well as the current live-stream out of the Helicarrier.

It had been twelve years since either of them had seen her, but there was not a single doubt between them that this was Mikan. She had grown into a very beautiful woman, just as Luca had always knew she would. He closed his eyes. Her hazel ones had seemed empty… so less full of life and her past cheerfulness seemed to have vanished…

From her interrogation they had understood that if Mikan was still alive, it wasn't the same for Kuonji or Natsume…They had been very disappointed of course, especially Luca. But since the very start Luca knew that it would not be very probable that he would have survived twelve years with his suffering body. What hurt him the most was to know that his friend died at only fourteen, in a mission, just as he always thought he would.

Luca sighed and studied Hotaru. If she seemed to calmly handle the situation, he knew that it wasn't the case: her hands were trembling, and her eyes were dilated, fixing Mikan on the screen. The latter was calmly seated in the bed of her cell, observing distractedly her hands. Luca was truly puzzled by Mikan's behavior. It was clear that she didn't try to kill or hurt anyone. But then why did she fake a Chitauri invasion?

Hotaru and him had guessed that she wanted to infilter the S.H.I.E.L.D. In fact, as Alices, it had been easy for them to be aware of all the new and impressive assets of Mikan. If she still had, and they were already sure of it, her Teleportation Alice, no prison, cage or capsule would be enough to arrest her.

In fact, observing the tapes had been a task full of surprises. For example, they weren't alone in the Universe. Norse gods and mythology, weren't just tales. They also discovered that a secret society of Wizards was located in Scotland; Magic existed, and was pretty real? They find out about the existence of those Infinity Stones… It was very frightening to know that one of them had been in the possession of a crazy intergalactic criminal. In fact, it was just frightening to know that the man himself was only two cells away from their friend. The tapes also allowed Luca and Hotaru to observe everything that had happened in her capsule. _Everything_. So, they had, of course, witnessed her horrifying scars, remaining traces of Mikan's experience of cruel and inhuman torture. At this sight, all Hotaru's color had been drained of her face, and Luca had struggled very hard to not scream. What could have possibly happened in twelve years to bring Mikan to such a state? Where the hell had she been all these years? Why didn't she try to contact them? Was she in the obligation to do so? Was she in danger? And what did she possibly want that the S.H.I.E.L.D possessed?

Luca stopped pacing.

"We had to see things by ourselves" he finally declared. "We can't possibly ignore the fact that Mikan is still alive, nor that she may be in danger, and even less that she might be one to the others. It had been twelve years, we can't possibly forget this."

Hotaru frowned at the last part, she didn't want to consider this option. Not after these twelve years of total blank. Mikan had been the most special person that ever entered her life, they may have been still children back then, but she would never forget her and Mikan would always held a special place in her heart. Of course, they had to do something about this situation. And of course, they weren't to go get her without taking any precautions. Cracking that S.H.I.E.L.D system, was like child play to her, and she had remarked that she was far from being the only one who achieved it. She was just one of the two who didn't get caught. She and Tony Stark. Still it wasn't sufficient, as even that international spying organization hadn't been to get any valuable information about Mikan. This meant that they would have to make their own researches.

"In the first place, I think that we should look for more information about Mikan. She was and surely still is a sentimental one: she would have probably put things or at least visited her grandfather a few times. Don't cut me Luca." she stopped him before that he could even open his mouth: "I already know that he is dead, I don't have to remind you that we both attended his funerals. But after it no one dared to go there, and we are the first that could be blamed for that… Mikan may have let few of her affaires there. We have to check and maybe we could understand what is going on with her, and what had she been doing all these years. I hope that she has a good excuse to give us for that!"

Luca smiled at this. He was just as upset and angry at Mikan as Hotaru was. It had been cruel from her to not come back to them, and to keep her sorrow to herself. He really was curious to know what could have stopped her to do so.

"I believe her when she did say that she had dismounted all the organizations who endangered the security of the Alices. Hotaru, I think that we should keep this between us. As long as we have not cleared the situation, I don't want to risk anything like to give false hope to our friends."

She didn't respond, and returned her attention to the computers, closing the discussion. Luca understood that Hotaru was OK with it. He posed himself on a chair near his friend, waiting patiently for her to finish what she was working on. It didn't take more than eight minutes for her to collect and pack all her results before to go straight to her room. As she reached the door, she turned her head and looked at his azure eyes:

"Pack quickly your things Luca, you have an hour before we leave."

He sighed and went to do as he had been told to.

* * *

Loki had watched the Midgardian woman pace nervously inside her cell. Just like any flower and no matter how rare she was, this young prey would be easily crushable. Indeed, in only one evening he had managed to insert both doubts and fears inside her weak mind. Manipulating her wouldn't be a hard task.

The Trickster felt a wave of disgust rise through his body. He didn't destroy the young Midgardian, but he had seriously bruised her, tackled her painfully to the floor, and pressed too strongly her delicate wrists, letting his marks on her. The god of Lies and Mischiefs still reminded the feeling of his fingers lingering around her fragile throat, her dilated hazel slanted eyes were still engraved in his memory, just as the shivers he had sensed running through her warm and petite body imprisoned under his tall and cold one. He could still see her white and bright skin pale when she had understood that there was no way for her to escape from his strong grasp… Loki closed his eyes and leaned the back of his head against the glass of the capsule. Yes, he didn't need to use his Magic to be able to kill her, even though he had no intention to do so. Mikan Sakura had accused him to 'enjoy destroying the most beautiful things', she had been wrong: he knew how to appreciate the value of what was under his eyes and this woman had too much potential in her to be simply wasted by killing her. He may have hurt her, but he was fully aware that killing her would be useless and, according to his own situation, a stupid and thoughtless move.

The Trickster was also conscious that the special flower he had found was also able to protect herself with her cunning, scathing thorns. If he wanted to gather her, he would have to be careful, so he wouldn't cut himself too. _'_ _After all, I have already done that mistake the previous evening'_. Her hazel eyes had neither shown fear to him, nor bravery: they had been full of empathy and accusations. Loki could still feel the bitter taste of every truths she had thrown to his face. He opened his icy green eyes and put his right hand on where his heart was supposed to be...the same place the young Midgardian had dared to touch both physically and spiritually. This weak organ, a traitor that was the only part of him that could still betray him, weaken him or threaten his plans. Each one of the painful beats of his heart was reminding him of his failures, his pains and his loneliness and Mikan Sakura was dangerous in that very aspect: she had access to his weakness. She could make her way too easily to it, confront it and expose all of its content... The Midgardian woman had been the first to see the man in pain inside him, the same man that he had tried to hide from everyone, even from himself. She also had to be the last. What an interesting person she was, his _Little One_.

The _Little One_ would find the courage to face him again. She was from that kind of people who wasn't stopped by their fears; and that what exactly what he needed and expected from her. Loki still did have the memory of their encounters freshly engraved in his mind. Yes, she wasn't afraid of him, rather of what being close to him would mean for her. She felt guilty of being still alive and being with him was a risk to become guiltier. Yet, the _Little One_ wasn't one to be tainted by the dirt encircling her...

The secret agent and the inventor had wanted to know more about the accusations she had made to Fury and they had been able to retrace what had happened to her ten years ago: at the age of fourteen his _Little One_ had been known introduced to S.H.I.E.L.D under the name of the _Red Lotus_ and had to bring to Fury an Horcrux, reason why she had been in the obligation to kill her partner…

 _The Red Lotus_. Names could be really powerful and that one of her seemed to resonate with her very soul. Whoever had decided to give it to her was either a sadistic person or a genius. In the Asgardian and Egyptian civilizations, the Lotus Flower is known to be associated with purity, spiritual awakening and faithfulness. _'All characteristics that seem to apply perfectly to the young flower I have meet'_ This flower is considered pure as it is able to emerge from murky waters in the morning and be perfectly clean. Therefore, in some mythologies and in Asgard the lotus is seen as a sign of rebirth but additionally it is associated with purity. The Red Lotus, in particular, is related to the heart. Flower that is associated with the meaning of love and compassion for all things… _'The breaking of the surface every morning is suggestive of desire: and hers is to be loved, protected and surely accepted for what she is. Pretty common. Tricking her heart will not be hard: she is attired by danger, even though she tries to flee it, darkness and damaged people. She will not resist me. Her ability to sense other feelings and emotions will be her loss. It is necessary if I want to be soon out of this damned cell.'_

The Midgardian's unique ability to read his feelings wasn't that different from Heimdall's one to sense souls. He could easily trick her the way he had tricked the all-seeing and all-hearing Asgardian. His most precious possessions, Allice's books had allowed him to learn how to hide a soul's signature with Magic. The _Little One_ may have been able to counter a Midgardian wizard's Magic, but his own was far more powerful. Loki even doubted that her barriers could truly contain him. Still, it didn't mean that he didn't have to be careful around her or Heimdall. As a matter of fact, lying to any of them would mean lying to himself, or Loki was an expert in that area. He was not A but The Trickster, which meant that he also knew how to trick his own heart, how to use his own feelings to manipulate the others. It had already worked with the young woman as she believed, now, that Thanos' arrival on Midgard was imminent and inexorable. What a fool! She had been as gullible as his br… as Thor would have been. They had still two or three years before to really worry about the Mad Titan. In fact, Thanos was now only in the possession of a small fragment of the Soul Stone, his army, the Chitauri, had been seriously damaged and he wouldn't try to collect the Stones before to either be in the possession of the Infinity Gauntlet or to gain the support of Death. Both were most unlikely to happen, at least right now...

Loki didn't really worry about himself for now, even though it had been for the best to make the young Midgardian think so. If he was honest with himself, Loki did have to admit that he was rather lucky to have encountered her, especially when she had come to him by herself. Indeed, Loki wasn't stupid. The _Little One_ possessed some Asgardian Magic, surely enough to even be noticed by Thor. Furthermore, her community was called Alice, which sounded too much like Allice to only be a coincidence. It was also without counting on her very impressive knowledge of the Norse Mythology and all what concerned the Stones for a Midgardian. Plus, her power could be catalyzed into gems, from what he had understood, or Allice was known for his impressive works and researches on the Infinity Stones but also for having a special affection for the Midgardians. Therefore, he was pretty sure that there was a link or another between her and Allice. Loki's knowledge in Allice's soft spot for Midgardians was more of a guess than a proven fact, but it was only logical. Or, at least, it was for Loki since Allice was the son of Hönir. Hönir, brother of Odin and son of Bor. Allice's particular fondness for humans was exactly the reason why Loki had been interested in conquering Midgard. In fact, he had been sure that the two books missing from his collection were well guarded somewhere on it, and he had been right, since he had already found one of them.

Loki stood up and reached for the three books posed on his table: _The Theory of the Seven Universes_ , written by Allice himself, _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_ and _The History of the Nine Realms_. Each of them was priceless since they all have been in the Sorcerer's possession: after Allice's death, his goods and works had been declared as lost, all had mysteriously disappeared and the only notes Asgardians erudite did found were encrypted. Loki had already found four of his belongings, which made him the only person alive, to this day, who possessed so many of them. Alas, they weren't magically encrypted, which was the reason why he still hadn't achieved to decrypt them. With _The Theory of the Seven Universes_ and _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_ , Loki had managed to guess that two other books were missing from his collection and to know that they were on Midgard. He had already found one of them: _'The History of the Nine Realms'_. Indeed, Iridium wasn't the only thing that he had bring alongside with him from Germany. The precious book was well hidden in the Wiblingen Monastery Library in Ulm. Even Loki had to admit that the library, completed in the 11th Century, was a masterpiece. The book had been placed in a vault only accessible with the help of Magic. One book remained, and he was certain that either it or his Little One, may be the key to decrypt the books he already had in his possession.

Loki took _The Theory of the Seven Universes_ between his hands; the first book he had found. It had been a lucky discovery that he made one decade ago. It was stored somewhere between some belongings of _Frigga_ , the woman he had believed to be his mother all these years... Even after this disillusion, calling her by her name, and not _Mother_ , as he still sometimes did, was both odd and painful.

Loki's cold and sharp green eyes scrutinized each letter and each symbol of the precious grimoire, chasing away these weakening thoughts; he would rather let sentimentality to Thor and his precious Midgardians... Thor. Thor, his naive and unintelligent adopted brother. Even though Loki had proved himself untrustworthy, Thor never learned and repeated the same mistake repeatedly: he trusted him, or rather he hoped that one day he would miraculously change for the better and give up on his ambitions. The best proof of his br… of Thor's gullibility was that he had allowed Loki the access to some books of his private library. This could also be described as stupidity. After two thousand years being constantly tricked, Thor, like the fool he was, still hadn't learned anything from it… Which could only make Loki's humiliation more cunning when it was obvious that Thor would always and undeniably stay Odin's favorite. How could he favor Thor to him? It was easy to guess: he was his real son. His blood ran through his veins… All this years of training, all his studies, every single effort he had done to get to the Throne or simply to earn the approbation of Odin had never counted… Yet Loki wasn't one to complain about his brother credibility as it had allowed him the access to his most precious belongings.

 _The Theory of the Seven Universes_ , book who seemingly related the theory of a universe containing six others. Technically, to any being, it would be physically impossible to travel from one of these universe to another for the simple and existential reason that the six other ones were contained in the Infinity Stones. Loki's opinion on the subject was that this book rather related on the several possible emplacements of the Infinity Stones and their creators, the four firsts beings in the Universe, who were Death, Entropy, Eternity and Infinity. It had, indeed, in its own ways, helped him found some of the relics he had been and still was looking for.

 _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_ contained _the Tale of the Three Brothers_ and _the Tale of The Warlock's Hairy Heart_. The first one was particularly interesting since the Peverells' story related of a real encounter with Death herself. The book in his possession was the original and was full of the annotations of both its author and Allice.

Concerning the second tale, it discussed the story of a man who had removed his heart of his body. An image used to describe a man splitting his soul. The Trickster smirked haughtily. The soul was the very essence of every living being. It was an impressive, singular and exceptional source of spiritual and magical energy. Only people out of their right mind would make such an irreparable damage to themselves. He knew that the practice, if not very common, had been tried and achieved by an impressive amount of Midgardian wizards. What was very enthralling with this book was rather the explications and notes of Allice on the subject. They explained that the Soul Stone mirrored the most important spiritual properties of every being souls. This was the reason why the Soul Stone could be splitted in so many parts, had so much power over a being's soul making it able to manipulate or change them, alive or dead.

The last book, _The History of the Nine Realms_ contained a hidden copy of _The_ _Book of Cagliostro_ , which focused on the dark side of mysticism. This copy was more precious than the original, since it contained some of Allice's, Nicholas Flamel's, and a certain Doctor Who's notes.

Loki had serious reasons to believe in these books' content, just as a few Asgardians physicians. In fact, little was the number of living being who were conscious of Allice discoveries, and the ones who knew some of his secrets were even fewer. Loki had the chance to belong to these two luckiest categories. He did find out that Allice had been the previous owner of the Soul Stone. He also knew that he tried to steal the Tesseract from the care of Odin, which resulted in him being banned from Asgard and that he had been momently in the possession of the Power Stone. This made him the only being who had been the most in the contact of the Stones, which was one more reason to believe his work trustworthy.

Loki had good reasons to believe that the two remaining books were hidden on Midgard. This would have been both a logic and symbolic choice for Allice to do, since his father, Hönir, had given himself Intelligence to the firsts humans. In his opinion, their Wizarding Societies and the Community of Master of Mystic Arts were the only ones which could really be considered as developed since the only Midgardians who could have been considered successful had been helped in their works by peoples coming from other realms. As for the Avengers, they didn't even count to him. They were only marginals to the others of their kind who convinced themselves that they could use their differences to protect their world.

He still hadn't observed enough the _Little One_ to completely judge her. She was more of a challenge than her semblable, or rather unique in her own ways. Her body and mind may be weak, but her powers and knowledge made her strong enough to interest him. She was of that kind of people who thought with their heart rather than with their brain.

All Loki needed was patience. _'What better than to beat your enemies and make them think they won? Just like when Natasha Romanoff had thought that she had played me!'_ , he internally smirked. He had the upper hand in a game way bigger than everyone thought it was. To think that a simple cage would arrest him had been the S.H.I.E.L.D's biggest mistake. And even if they truly had been able to imprison him, _'_ _no prison is unbreakable'_. He only did have to wait for the best moment to make his leave. Indeed, he didn't want anyone to guess the reason why he had been so interested in conquering Midgard.

 **AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA**

 **A.N:**

 **So here we are X)**

 **I really hope that you have enjoyed this chapter!**

 **In fact, I wanted to show you how much influence Loki could have on a person. Logically, Mikan could as well and should rely on Thor more than on his brother as he could nearly provide her all the help Loki could give to her. I also think that binding souls with Loki could have been Mikan biggest mistake. Indeed, the fact that he can't betray her doesn't prevent him on achieving to manipulate her, so he could get his ways to freedom and power again…**


	5. Of Politics and Gauntlets:

**Please review and tell me what you think about it!**

 ** **Disclaimer: I do not own neither Gakuen Alice, which belongs to Tachibana Higuchi, nor Avengers, which belongs to Marvel and even less Harry Potter, which is the work of the wonderful J.K.R :) But I do own the plot and my OC characters of course.****

 **Chapter 5: Of Politics and Gauntlets:**

"Oh Harry! I'll adopt him! Look at him, he is so cute!" nearly squealed Luna, most to Harry Potter's despair…

The creature Harry Potter was facing did have a lizard-like appearance. Its yellow eyes, with their cats-like pupils were observing him intently. The creature's dangerous bronze horns and spikes that protruded from its long tail reminded him too much of the one of a female dragon he had to face in his fourth year at Hogwarts. In fact, the Hungarian Horntail was one of the most vicious and aggressive breeds of dragon and, since all dragons were known to be ferocious, that was saying something. Then… why the hell the creature was docilely playing and purring at Luna!

Harry looked at the twenty-seven years old woman in front of him with both incredulity and horror. Luna Lovegood, his very dear but impossible friend, was playing with the dragon, just like she would have with a kitten! Her dirty blonde hair was entangled in one of the dragon's claws, while she kept scratching its black scales, making the creature purr like a cat! Even its tail was lashing from side to side. Yes, only Luna could do such a thing as befriending a dragon within twenty minutes. In fact, this was partly the reason why he had asked her to escort to this particular mission. Indeed, the Magizoologist often accompanied him in his mission in the course of his work with the Aurors. It was always good to have her by his side: Luna wasn't just a good friend, but a good partner too. The dreamy woman was a very skilled witch and she was a great help when he had to face magical creatures. Of course, this stood only for when she didn't want to bring them along to the Manor.

The reason why they were facing a dragon was rather simple: Charles Weasley had contacted the Deputy Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures (or, to make it shorter Hermione), to report one missing dragon from the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary. This was the reason why Hermione had asked him to accompany the Auror affiliated to this mission, since he had already affronted a Horntail in the past.

Three years after the Second Wizarding War, the dragon dealers' activity had brutally increased, and such event were now considered as common. Dragons' blood, claws, dungs, hearts, horns and so on. All of these were known for their powerful magical properties and were, of course, very precious and expensive. The dealers didn't hesitate to kill or torture dragons and, now, it just seemed that they weren't even stopped by the frontiers of sanctuaries anymore.

Since Charlie was already too occupied by the reparations of the sanctuary and the examination of its dragons one by one Harry couldn't have the help of the dragonologist, but with Luna at his side this hadn't really mattered. Harry looked at the woman in question. For once she didn't wear an extravagant habit as they had to deal with a dragon. Well... let apart the charmed dragon hat that Luna had chosen to wear for this special occasion. Harry had preferred to say nothing as he already knew that even if he had begged her to not wear it she would not have listened to him. Not that he was ashamed of his friend's extravagance, of course not! He just had feared for her security, but his worries seemed to have been vain since Luna had managed, out of nowhere, to seduce the dragon they had been looking for. Speaking of which…

"Luna dear, this is just simply out of question. I categorially refuse that you bring a Hungarian Horntail to the house! Don't try the doe eyes with me, this will absolutely not work!" Harry finally tried to say firmly.

Luna sighed and waved to the creature before to report her attention to where the three dealer they had been arrested. Or, rather that Harry and an Auror, a certain Klaus Eather, had arrested, since she had been too focused into preventing them to be crushed by the dragon they had been looking for. Klaus Eather had Disapparated few minutes ago, taking alongside with him the band of criminals. So bad that she hadn't been able to hex them when it would have been still legal for her to do so.

"If it can cheer you up, I hexed one of them with a very nasty Bat-Bogey spell." smiled Harry amusedly, as he had guessed what Luna was probably thinking about.

The reflection brought a little smile on the lips of his dreamy friend, which made Harry feel lighter. His and Luna's connection had always been very special and precious to him. She was his confident, the only one of his friends who could understand his feelings so well.

Between having to fulfill every expectation of the Wizarding society and finding a meaning to his Voldemort-less new life, these last ten years spent in the Wizarding world had been very long and direful to him. Yet, Luna had never given up his side and Harry would never be able to thank her enough for what she had done for him. If possible, Luna was now maybe even closer to him than Hermione or Ron had ever been.

"Maybe he would be better in a sanctuary, with his brothers than in the park of the Manor…" admitted Luna, even though she still sounded a bit disappointed.

Harry nodded at her, relieved that Luna hadn't insisted any further. Instead of using any word, he just chose to take her small hand in his and pressed it gently. Luna only smiled dreamily at him and they stayed like this waiting for the caretakers of the Sanctuary to come and handle the dragon in their more knowing hands. When they heard a loud and familiar pop, they tuned their heads to the new Apparated Charlie and other dragonologists of the Romanian Sanctuary.

"It is always good to see you two!", smiled warmly Charlie to his two friends, "I don't know how to thank you both! We truly owe you a lot, this Horntail is one of the last of his species!"

Harry couldn't help the laugh that escaped his mouth when he saw Charlie shocked face, since the poor man had now realized that the creature in question was purring at Luna! The other caretakers of the Sanctuary were looking in awe at the young woman: even the best trained dragonologists had never achieved such a thing as befriending a dragon, well not to their knowledge at least. Harry smiled proudly to his Luna, and without any other words Disapparated, heading to Hermione's office. Which appeared to have been a very bad idea after all.

Hermione was furious and frustrated to the point that her bushy brown hair seemed to be flying around her head. For once, Harry could even feel her magic shaking dangerously through the air. Hermione's brown eyes were sending daggers to Kingsley Shacklebolt who, even though he was reputed for his calm and controlled stature, seemed to be rather angry as well. It seemed that Luna and Harry had just Apparated in the middle of an argument between the two members of the Ministry.

"Oh dear, the room is so full Wrackspurts! Hermione you should be wary, or they are to make your brain go fuzzier!" stated Luna, as the tenseness in the room was to its highest.

The remark earned her a frustrated roll of the eyes from both Kingsley and Hermione. The latter was too furious to control herself and just chose to rather ignore Luna's remark in order to not say something that she would regret afterwards. Instead, she focused her attention into her eying battle with the Minister of Magic.

"What is going on?" asked tactfully Harry, as this could have lasted for hours: Kingsley and Hermione weren't to their first argument, and this one would certainly not be their last.

"Your friend, _Mister Potter…_ ," both Harry and Luna frowned at this: Kingsley was _definitely_ angry. "Had, without my or anyone else concertation, suppressed all our politics ties and information contacts with S.H.I.E.L.D! Do you even realize, young woman, the consequences of your act!"

Hermione laughed coldly at Kingsley and put her hands on her hips. She had lifted an impatient eyebrow while listening to him and was obviously fuming. In fact, Harry could nearly see the smoke storming out of her nose and ears. This was not going to end well…

"Indeed, I do. Fury is a manipulative man who is ready to use anything or anyone able to fulfill his intentions! For him it doesn't matter if a dangerous mission is attributed to a child, as long as it is successfully achieved! I refuse to work with such an organization, it would mean going against all what I have been working on after the war! After all, Fury doesn't care about our links. All that could interest him about the Wizarding Society is the possible soldiers it could bring to him, soldiers that could fight by his side. Fury once used two fourteen years old children to bring him a fucking Horcrux for God's sake! The curses placed to protect it even caused the death of one of them! Just to say out loud!"

"Well, you get it all wrong Hermione." replied sarcastically the tall black wizard, "What you did was only an egotistical decision to satisfy your own ego! With everything going on in the Muggle World, being in relation with S.H.I.E.L.D is currently the best way for us to be well informed and to have a hand on the situation! You should be the first concerned as both your parents are Muggles! And the fact that Fury is in the possession of an Horcrux won't change a thing! It is not like he would be able to use it for some ill intent or anything like that! Didn't you think, even for one second, that we could have rather acted to destroy it, without S.H.I.E.L.D being aware about it?"

Harry frowned at Kingsley accusations. He knew that his friend had been chosen to be the emissary of the Wizarding Society in the course of a collaboration with an American organization named S.H.I.E.L.D. However, Hermione had categorically refused to tell, either to him or to her husband, a single word about what she had seen during her work with the organization. In fact, Harry and Luna had absolutely no idea of whatever Kingsley and Hermione were talking about. As for a Horcrux being in the possession of a muggle organization, it wouldn't be a real problem since they were wizards and stealing it from them, to destroy it, wouldn't be a big deal. What concerned him though, was if that Fury-man knew about the nature of his possession.

"Does he know that it is a Horcrux?" asked calmly Harry.

"He doesn't. Fury knows only about some of that Horcrux's properties. Ten years ago, in a Greek village someone had been possessed by an old Artefact. They call it the Necklace of Black Pearls. The person who had found it committed suicide: after he had realizing he had killed all the members of his family under its influence. S.H.I.E.L.D had heard about it and had decided to keep it under its care – ' _If the American and British Wizarding Societies weren't right in the middle of the Second Wizarding War, they would have taken care of it'_ Hermione thought bitterly. – After that, Fury had contacted a clandestine organization of Alices, who was reputed for the abilities of its members to fulfill very dangerous missions. A woman they have actually arrested, Mikan Sakura Yukihira, and another boy had been sent to hand it over to S.H.I.E.L.D. During their mission, the boy had been possessed by the Horcrux and, to prevent him from killing massively the inhabitants of that village, Mikan Sakura had been in the obligation to kill him." explained Hermione, her voice betraying both the anger and disgust that she felt towards Fury.

The Boy Who Lived listened to his friend without making any sounds or showing any emotions. Injustice was everywhere in the world, and hit too often the ones who just couldn't really respond to it. Harry understood Hermione's decision to cut all ties between the Wizarding Society and this organization. However, Kingsley was right too. Being in there wouldn't only mean to be informed of the Muggle's World situation, but also changing the organization from the inside, or at least to prevent such things from happening again. That woman, Mikan something, was only an exemple.

"You said Alices?" asked Luna Lovegood, whose wide eyes were gleaming with curiosity and perplexity. "My father had already met one during one of his travel in Japan. He told me about them. They are able to do a lot of things that could logically only be achieved by wizards, but they have no Magic. Their power is concentrated into crystals that are in their body. They call them Alices Stones. Daddy had a theory that their power was linked to their souls and personalities. I remember that he had said that they weren't really powerful. So, why would that organization choose to send two Alices children?"

All heads turned to Hermione, everyone waiting from her to respond to Luna's last question. The one concerned observed her friend without truly being surprised: only Luna could be aware of the existence of people like the Alices without being a Muggle-born. Not to say that she was a Muggle-born and did have no idea of their existence before to be introduced to Mikan Sakura.

"Well, Mikan Sakura is certainly not like any of the ones of her kind. She had way more Alices Stones than the others and we still have no ideas of her limits. In fact, I think that she isn't a real prisoner, she certainly is either working for someone or looking for something from S.H.I.E.L.D"

"Mister Shacklebolt, you have previously spoken about problems in the Muggle World. What is going on?" queried calmly Luna.

"To make it short, the previous month an Asgardian god, named Loki, tried to invade the Earth. We know that in exchange of the help of Thanos, a dangerous Titan, he had to give him a powerful Artefact guarded on Earth. Voldemort's threats pales in comparison to the one the Earth has currently escaped! And yet the same woman we had been speaking about could be possibly his ally. What Hermione had completely forgotten to tell you about, however, is that this Mikan Sakura is completely impermeable to our magic." stated coolly Kingsley, still too irritated by Hermione's stubborn behavior.

At his explanation, Harry's jaw nearly hit the floor. He had thought of many possible problems faced by the Muggles but no such thing as an alien invasion! He had always believed that the Norden's mythology was only full of unreal tales. Just as the Wizarding society had believed that the _Tale of the Three Brothers_ was only a legend. It just seemed that the Universe was still full of secrets waiting to be discovered! As for someone able to be impermeable to magic, this meant a possible opponent in front of whom they would be completely powerless...

Luna on the other hand had remained perfectly composed. No signs that could betray any possible surprise or confusion was noticed on her stature. Indeed, the young witch had always opened her mind to every possibility, on the contrary of her friend, who believed only on what she did read on her books. Luna had always believed that it was that missing quality that had decided the Sorting Hat to place Hermione in Gryffindor and not in Ravenclaw, plus her incredible courage of course. This default present in her friend's personality was even more surprising that she was a Muggle-born. But Luna didn't blame Hermione though, no one was flawless, and the dirty blonde woman didn't have the pretention to be so. Moreover, she knew that it wasn't to her to judge the others.

"But, wait a minute!" suddenly realized Harry, "Why the hell is no one aware of what happened! Why didn't you ask us to help the muggles fight against the threat?! Don't tell me that you have simply stood and watch the Muggles struggle from afar?!" choked Harry outraged.

"That is exactly what we did, Harry. The Muggles had been able to stop the invasion and there was no need for us to intervene. S.H.I.E.L.D has newly composed a team of superheroes and mutant. They call themselves the Avengers and were able to stop Loki and to arrest the Japanese woman who supposedly tried to mime the Chitauri invasion." explained Kingsley slightly in a defensive tone. "There was no need to compromise ourselves. It would have led to too many consequences in both the Wizarding and Muggle side. Muggles are still not ready to accept us, as for the Wizarding world, it is still too impacted by the souvenir of Voldemort."

Harry had experienced by himself the Muggles' reaction to magic as he had spent a major part of his life living with the Dursleys, who were fervently opposed to it. He knew that Muggles were still not ready to acknowledge the existence of a Wizarding Society. They may have faced aliens and accepted people with superpowers, but for the first, they didn't live constantly near them and, concerning the seconds, they were only a small handful of people, who were non-representative of an important community of people like them. Racism couldn't apply to only an exception. They would just be considered as marginal. So, yes, Harry understood the point of view of both the American and British Minister of Magic's decision to not intervene. Yet… If that Loki had achieved to conquer the Earth, they would have been obligated to do it one day or another.

"So…" finally began Harry, "What are we to do to face the situation?"

Luna who understood to where Harry was heading, only raised a patient and observing eyebrow. Harry was definitely too attracted to danger to not let such an occasion like this pass. Even though, this would earn him the disapprobation of Hermione, whose eyes were already sending him daggers, in the hope to stop him from taking this decision. But Luna, just as Hermione, knew Harry too well and they both were aware that such a thing wouldn't impress or dissuade him to do otherwise. Yes, the wide-eyed woman had already understood Harry's wish, before that he had even voiced it. Following this decision would mean for him to be partly able to escape the Wizarding World. Luna was aware that Harry didn't feel like he belonged to neither of the two worlds. After all what he had experienced, even his love for Magic couldn't have prevented this from happening and Luna understood it very-well. Yet, Harry hadn't been tempted by the Muggle World too. Even though he was fully aware that the Dursley weren't representative to the Muggles in general, he didn't feel comfortable around them. He was, to his own eyes, a marginal who felt like he didn't really belong to neither of the two worlds. And, what a better place for a marginal than being around people who were marginalized like him?

Luna observed her friend carefully. Harry had progressively grown more vigorous through the years. Yet, Luna was sure that a change of environment would make Harry some good. In fact, she had been about to propose to him to accompany her in one of her expedition in Amazonia! So, whatever choice Harry would make, Luna didn't care: the first friend she ever had would always have her support.

"I am not to give up on a partnership with S.H.I.E.L.D." assured strongly Kingsley, completely ignoring the protesting sound that escaped from Hermione's mouth. "And, since _Ms. Weasley_ has quitted her work as emissary, I have no other choice than to find someone else for the job." the politician paused, his sharp brown eyes analyzing meticulously Harry. Finally, Kingsley lifted an appreciating eyebrow. "Am I wrong to affirm that you are interested in taking it?"

Harry only nodded silently, his evergreen warm eyes full of a new determination.

"Harry, what I am to ask from you is different from what I have requested from Hermione to do. Indeed, I would like you to stay in their base constantly. You would report us the information and news regularly. I will ask Fury to make you work with the Avengers and maybe to integer their ranks. I will expect from you to keep an eye on Fury, but especially on Loki and that Alice woman S.H.I.E.L.D has arrested." explained Kingsley.

When Harry opened his mouth to speak, he was cut by an indignant Hermione:

"Harry, I don't understand why you are interested into working with such an organization! This is insane and unacceptable…"

"Hermione, if Harry doesn't take it someone else will. Don't you think that, by being there, he will never allow such things to ever happen again? Instead of reacting so strongly to S.H.I.E.L.D's flaws, wouldn't it be for the best to change it from the inside?" reasoned kindly Luna, pressing gently Harry's hand to show him her support. The latter responded to her with a determined and daring smile.

Hermione sighed, as she knew that any of her efforts to make Harry's decision change would be pointless. Even though she was still very frustrated, she knew that Luna was right after all. Speaking of whom… Hermione wondered if the affection between her and her childhood friend was only a strong friendship or if it should be defined as something else. Even though Hermione had begun, few months ago, to observe them more closely, it was hard for her to define their relationship. Harry didn't seem to be ready to love someone again and analyzing Luna's behavior was just an impossible task for her, no matter how much they were close.

"Luna" began Harry, quite uncertain, "...would you like to accompany me in this task? I know that you are not interested as much as I am in that kind of stuff, but… This would be the best occasion for you to discover more things about the muggle and maybe you will…" he tried to argue lamely, needing to find a reason to convince her to go with him.

To be honest, even Harry couldn't explain his particular need to have Luna by his side. However, he had had that presentiment that accepting this job could change permanently his life and he wanted his friend to be a part of this new one. Harry observed Luna a bit nervously, completely ignoring the curious and judging gaze of Hermione. He could sense that he had taken Luna by surprise, since her usually unblinking eyes had blinked twice at his proposition. But Luna quickly wiped away any lingering doubts that Harry could have over her decision as she beamed at him, her face brightened by a big and innocent smile.

"Of course, I will, Harry!" Luna simply responded to him, smiling happily at her friend who smiled back at her, quite relieved. The blond witch reported her attention to Kingsley and asked in a dreamy sing-song voice: "When do you want us to get in there and can you please give us more details about what you want us to do with the Horcrux?"

"Pack up your things and wait for me to owl you. I will need to contact Furry first. Don't worry about the details, I will send you a charmed parchment with everything that you will need to know."

"Alright then, it's settled." agreed Harry.

Without any more reason to stay inside Hermione's office, the two friends waved her goodbye before to Disapparate, heading straightly to the Manor. Kingsley only nodded curtly to the brightest witch of her age, before to head back to his own office. Now, all he had to do was to contact Fury and to explain him the situation. The British Minister of Magic had no intention to make any concessions and he knew that the Head of S.H.I.E.L.D wouldn't refuse two powerful wizards joining his ranks…

* * *

Mikan observed distractedly the white cloud of her breath escape from her mouth. The Alice wasn't in the Helicarrier anymore. Yet, for precaution, she only had let a clone in her cell, believable enough to not attire attention on her. Indeed, Mikan had left the Helicarrier and had teleported herself in Alaska an hour ago. After all, the young woman had made a good guess: only her Mind-Reading Alice had been necessary to find the location of the Necklace of Black Pearls, which wasn't stored in Alaska but Africa. Mikan's presence and her accusations had revived, altogether, his memory of the case. He had thought and rethought about it a lot, never wondering if he had been just or not. Duty was the only word that pleased him enough. _'Duty my ass! People like him are just hypocrites who are deluded enough to think that they were doing the right thing! To choose the easiest path couldn't be better than to struggle a little more but having at least the relief of a clearer Conscience'_.

Mikan observed Excalibur, a secret base only known by the highest members of S.H.I.E.L.D, in which was stored the Infinity Gauntlet. To locate the item, Mikan had been in the obligation to use the Soul Sucking Alice to get Fury to give her all the information she needed to complete her task. The young woman always felt dirty and disgusted after using it. Yet, she had no other choice and didn't thought twice before using it on Fury. The advantage of that Alice was that the "victim" would never remember what happened to him, maybe feel a bit awkward but nothing more.

The Infinity Gauntlet, explained Nicholas Flamel and Allice, was a too dangerous artefact, created for the purpose of giving to its user the ability to control the six Infinity Stones. On the contrary of the Stones, which were indestructible, the Gauntlet wasn't, it had been a security made by Allice at its creation. As the Artefact had been created and also in the possession of Allice, he hadn't seen the utility to destroy it. After all, Allice had been in the quest of the Stones too. The Sorcerer was a clever man. _Indeed_ , he had put several copies of the Gauntlet to lure the possible beings who would try to make its acquisition. To anyone looking for it, the first place they would thought to would be Odin's Vault. Yet, Nicholas Flamel explained that the original was well kept on Earth. Yet, how did it came into the possession of S..H.I.E.L.D, she had absolutely no idea and it didn't truly mattered, the most important was only to get rid of it first. It wouldn't technically be a problem for her, especially when the Flamel's diary explained of many possibilities to destroy the Artefact. One of them was a special combination of Alices and, ( _luckily?_ ), Mikan was in the possession of every one of them.

It was very prudent of S.H.I.E.L.D to have placed the two Artefacts in different secret hideaway. Yet, the organization had been too confident too: only two guards were protecting the base, which wasn't even recorded in the organization's data base. A complex system protected the base, which was also completely invisible to any radar. They hadn't thought that someone could possibly try to get to it, nor to achieve very easily to get to the vault in which the Gauntlet had been placed. Not that Mikan would complain about it, but it was terrifying to see how one of the most wanted Artefacts in the Universe was so badly protected. Yet, the Alice was going to make definitely an end to this, after she would be done with it, there would be no more reason to fear such things.

Her mind alert, and the best combination of her Alices to not be spotted, Mikan was standing in front of the door of the Vault in which the Gauntlet had been placed. The security system wasn't as complex as the Helicarrier's, reason why getting in and out would not be that much of a challenge for her. Mikan entered cautiously the vault and headed straightly to the object of her interest. The Gauntlet was bigger than what she had firstly thought, at least it seemed far too imposing for a human, even to an Asgardian. The Gauntlet was made in Vibranium, which was a quasi-indestructible element. Nicholas Flamel hadn't developed that much about it, that element had crash landed from outer space millennia ago into the African region that was now the Wakanda. To hide its true nature, the Gauntlet was covered by gold leaves. The places for each Stone was pretty clear and it was interesting to notice that the Soul Stone had a particular place, that was quite in the middle, separated from the others.

Mikan couldn't have been surer that the Artefact in front of her was the real one. Indeed, it had been said that the real Gauntlet possessed a fragment of the Soul Stone and she had sensed it clearly. To be able to destroy the Artefact, Mikan had firstly to remove the fragment from the Gauntlet with the help of her Stealing Alice, then she would neutralize the Artefact's Magic by using the Nullification Alice which would also help stabilize the element, finally she would and the object with her Corrosion Alice. The latter was too strong for the Vibranium to resist, fact that had been already proved in the past since Mikan had make few tests to make sure of it.

The young woman inhaled and cleared her mind, which was now at his highest level of concentration. She had to be cautious, so she would give the right power levels to each of the Alices she was about to use. Indeed, as it was a complex combination of Alices, she did have to train herself to reach a maximum level into her mastering and control over each one of them. For the Stealing and Nullification Alice, it had always been natural for her, but it hadn't been that easy with the Corrosion Alice. As a matter of fact, that Alice had always been too dangerous, however possessed it, too its beholder's environment as much as to himself…

Mikan trembled as the Gauntlet quivered at the physical contact of her bare hands posed on it. Even though the vault was icy, the metal was surprisingly warm. The Alice closed her eyes and processed into removing the fragment. Soon enough, an orange light appeared, emanating from the Artefact, of the same nature of the one that had emanated from Loki's chest; of the same shade of Mandarin orange of Mjolnir's aura; the same color of the already three fragments in her own body and her originals Alices Stones… Wasn't it funny? "Mikan" meant "mandarin oranges", should it only be interpreted as a very strong coincidence? An irony of fate? Did her name sealed her destiny? Names were known to be very powerful, and hers sounded almost ironic right now. Yet, Mikan held it, and would always hold it like an armor, with pride and dignity. This name was the only gift her father had ever made to her, it was way too precious to be complained of. The young woman sensed the new weight of the fragment of the Soul Stone on her into the palm of her right hand. It was twice the size of the fragment that had been inserted into Loki's chest. Mikan observed it closely and wondered in how many pieces Allice had fragmented the Soul Stone.

The Soul Stone was the only Stone that could be fragmented as it mirrored a real soul's properties and behavior. Yet, Mikan was able to capture the essence of any Stone inside anyone's body or any object and to extract it by giving it the shape of a gem. Only the Soul Stone's fragment remained in her body forever in her body. The young woman used her Inserting Alice to absorb her new possession. Mikan had now four fragments in her physical body. Two linked to her soul since the day she was born plus the one she had removed from Loki's body and now from the Gauntlet. Even though the idea didn't please her at all, but it wasn't as if she did have any other choices…

The fragment now successfully absorbed, Mikan processed into destruction of the Artefact: if Thanos, or anyone else, possessed a fragment of the Stone and inserted in it, all her efforts would have been vain. Her Nullification Alice already activated, she used it to stabilize the very excited element. When Mikan felt that all the vibrations of the Gauntlet had been extinguished, she inserted in it the biggest Corrosion Alice Stone she had ever created and amplified its effect with the Amplification Alice. Mikan observed the Gauntlet tremble more and more strongly, slightly disaggregating, his bright gold color completely disappeared. To restrain any possible collateral damaged, the powerful Alice created a bubble with her Barrier Alice, that would contain the concentrated energy of the process.

The young woman felt a wave of satisfaction rise through her body as she witnessed the success of her action, she allowed herself to smile proudly at the small residues of what had been one of the most wanted Artefacts in the Universe. It was both a big relief and a one less burden to deal with. Her smile turned itself into a smirk as she imagined the face of Fury when he would realize how easily she had tricked him. This thought remembered her that she still wasn't done with her mission: The Necklace of Black Pearls was still waiting for her.

 **AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA**

 **A.N:**

 **So here we are X)**

 **I really hope that you have enjoyed this chapter!**

 **In fact, I wanted to show you how much influence Loki could have on a person. Logically, Mikan could as well and should rely on Thor more than on his brother as he could nearly provide her all the help Loki could give to her. I also think that binding souls with Loki could have been Mikan biggest mistake. Indeed, the fact that he can't betray her doesn't prevent him on achieving to manipulate her, so he could get his ways to freedom and power again…**


	6. Of Evilness and Manipulations:

**Warning: This chapter contains mentions of rape and sexual violence. Tell me if you want me to put a rating level for each chapter. Yet, I don't think that it was enough to make it an M chapter…**

 **I really hope that you are going to like this tenth chapter. Please R &R and tell me what you have thought about it! **

**I was laying the foundations of my story to this chapter. So I just wanted you to know that after this chapter, the pace of the story is going to increase.**

 **Since I didn't receive enough reviews to see your preferences about Luna's pairing, I will wait a little longer before to make my decisions clear.**

 **I wanted to thank GAwriter and theflowerblooms for reviewing regularly my story. I really hope that you will continue to enjoy it! I also express my gratitude to you two for favoring/following it, just as SupergodzillaSailorCosmos, CrazyManhwaGirl, Poosa-ard and SIMON80420.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own neither Gakuen Alice, which belongs to Tachibana Higuchi, nor Avengers, which belongs to Marvel and even less Harry Potter, which is the work of the wonderful J.K.R :) But I do own the plot and my OC characters of course.**

 **Chapter 6: Of Evilness and Manipulations:**

The dry and very warm air of the Sahara did have a dizzying effect on Mikan Sakura, who was resting under the shadow of an oasis of her creation. The young woman had abused too much of her Alices: Corrosion and Teleportation could be very useful, but not without a direful price to pay. The first was too instable for her environment and especially for herself, endangering her life constantly and the Nullification and Healing Alices were the only ones that could bring a semblance of equilibrium in her body. Indeed, Mikan Sakura Yukihira had to survive her own body and the countless Stones that were inside it. This explained why the young woman would rather use complex combinations of Alices, requiring energy, that had the same effects than those more direful. As for the Teleporting Alice, it required her way less concentration and energy than the Corrosion one. Indeed, it was an Alice that had always been highly compatible with her, as it had previously belonged to her mother. Naturally, it was without counting on the fact that, in less than three hours, Mikan had teleported twice into too long distances, which required also a considerable amount of physical energy…

While she was resting, Mikan took advantage of her situation to observe carefully the landscape. The climate was intensely hot, and, outside the oasis, there was no shadow for miles, no place to hide from the burning sun. Imposing red sand dunes were stretching to the horizon in graceful, symmetrical lines. Mikan had to admit that the scenery had its suggestive beauty… Deserts were the most challenging of places on Earth: scalding hot during the day and freezing cold at night, deserts were one of the world's hardest environments, in which there was hardly any water, the sand was hard to walk on, the wind could be strong, and sandstorms could erupt with barely a moment to notice. They were impressive and were often feared because of the dangerous animals that inhabited them, like snakes, scorpions, spiders, Africanized bees, wasps and so on… All misunderstood creatures, that were often seen as vicious. What a joke! The Mankind was the only species on Earth who was capable of vileness. This was the reason why Mikan had never feared animals... Moreover, the young woman was in the possession of both the Animal Pheromone Alice and the Animal Metamorphosing one, which explained why animals were mostly friendly to her. If she was honest, she would even admit that she kind of admired them, they had merit: they were survivors.

Feeling better, the Alice stood up and made the illusion disappear. She had few kilometers to cover before to arrive at the secret base of the S.H.I.E.L.D named the Sandbox, which had a better security system than Excalibur, which was how was named the secret base of Alaska. Still, it wouldn't be that much of a challenge. Indeed, to get in and out of the structure would be easy: she had the very intent to teleport herself directly in the vault where was guarded the Necklace of Black Pearls, since Fury had unwittingly given her enough information to be able to do so. She was going to be quick; all she need was to take the Artefact and disappear just as soon as she had appeared in the vault.

The young woman concentrated herself on the mental picture she had of her destination, activated a strong Barrier and teleported herself to the Necklace of Black Pearls' vault. Much to her surprise, Mikan apparated in front of two persons, a man with raven hair, whose evergreen eyes were covered by round glasses, accompanied by a woman with long dirty blond hair and wide silvery eyes. They were quick to point their wands towards her, the Necklace levitating near them. Mikan frowned, she had thought that the Artefact contained an evil spirit, she had been wrong: that disgusting object was the container of a piece of soul, of the darkest shade of aura Mikan had ever seen. The young woman felt an overwhelming desire to throw up. She had never witnessed such a sick and horrendous thing, to the point she felt all the colors drained from her face. Mikan inhaled sharply and banished all the appalling memories that were revived by this terrifying sight. Finally, she regained some calm and composure before to raise her hands up, in a pacifistic motion. She had reacted less quickly than the two wizards, but she had had the natural instinct to immediately active her Mind-Reading Alice: they all came there for the same reason. Fighting them wouldn't be necessary.

"My name is Mikan Sakura, I came here with the same purpose as you: to destroy the Necklace of Black Pearls. You are Hermione Weasley's friends isn't?" tried tactfully the young Alice.

"How do you know Hermione's real surname?" asked Harry, suspicious of the Alice woman's intention.

"You do have Legilimency right? Well, I do possess the Mind-Reading and the Telepathy Alices Stones, they are less efficient and complex than your spell, but it is a good asset too. In fact, the day your friend came to my capsule I have sensed she was special, or rather the vibes coming from her were – it very interesting to see that your wands are sentient, by the way… – it was obvious that she wasn't part of the Avengers and, since I wanted to keep my cards close to my chest, I wasn't keen to have any bad surprise. I have activated My Mind-Reading Alice and what a surprise to discover that the Doctor Granger was in fact Hermione Weasley, an important witch in a British Wizarding Society, who had the very intention to found out about every well-kept secret hidden in my mind." explained Mikan with a casual and detached attitude that could have rivaled with Luna's.

"What makes you think that we are to believe you so easily? If you really want so much to keep 'your cards close to your chest', why would you tell us all this?" queried Harry, who wasn't for the least ready to believe or trust a stranger's words.

Harry was surprised to see her give him a friendly and carefree smile.

"You don't have to believe me. Yet, I may want to point out the fact that I had the very intention to find a way or another to get in contact with your Wizarding Society, so I would have been able to hand it over to you. Ms. Weasley was thinking about similar things the day we have met, and, to me, as long as it is destroyed, it doesn't matter who is going to be the one to do it." shrugged Mikan. "… I see that you still don't seem to be convinced", she simply stated. The Alice considered quickly her options, before to make her choice: "OK. I will try to prove you my good faith: if you really want to, Miss Luna Lovegood will be allowed to use the Legilimency spell on me. You aren't one to fooled easily, you already have some wide knowledge about Alices that will help you understand my situation. You have a comprehensive nature and I believe that, with you, my secrets will be well guarded…"

Luna smiled kindly to the woman in front of her. It wasn't in response of her flattery, which had been earnest, but because she had studied Mikan Sakura enough to recognize in her someone who could observe way farther than her human eyes allowed. People of their kind, who were sensitive, receptive to the others' auras and to the real nature of things, were very pure beings, who had proven themselves worthy enough to earn this precious gift. Mikan Sakura had recognized that facet of hers too, reason why she had chosen to rely on her rather than on Harry. The latter was observing them quite puzzled by their strange interaction but chose to trust his friend.

"I do already trust you…" the pale Mikan smiled, thankful even though she knew what was coming next: "… Still, I think that it will be more secure if I do take a look. I promise that I will keep what I'll see to myself.", promised earnestly Luna. The Alice simply nodded at her; Luna was one of the fewest people she had ever meet who conveyed such positive and powerful vibes, she reminded her of the Ancient One…

Mikan closed her eyes, deactivated her Barrier Alice and prepared herself mentally to accept someone intrude her memories. When she opened her hazel again, she locked her gaze in Luna's with determination. The witch pointed her wand at her and used a wordless incantation.

It was Luna's first time practicing the Legilimency spell, she usually didn't need it to read in her opponents' behaviors or to decide if they were telling the truth. Yet, she knew that Mikan had trusted her because she needed them to trust her back and practicing Legilimency on her was the quicker option.

The first memory that presented itself to Luna was the one of what seemed to be a five years old girl crying alone under a tree, a collection of candy bags spread around her small body. Her face hidden in her hands, the little girl missed the heart-shaped light reflection that came over her. _'Someone who loved her very much was watching over her.'_ thought Luna.

The image vanished to the favor of a scenery in which an older version of the young Mikan Sakura was walking insouciantly in front of an imposing gate, in which figured the inscriptions ' _Alice Academy'_. Luna observed carefully how Mikan got to be accepted by the Academy… The little girl was unconscious, then, that she had forever sealed her destiny... Many other souvenirs defiled quickly and the silvery wide-eyed woman watched how the ten years old version of Mikan Sakura earned quickly the affection of her comrades, her frequent altercations with the Elementary School Principal, the Academy Rebellions, her time-travel in the past, in which she had discovered her real identity, to her doom, the day the ESP achieved to fake his, hers and another boy's deaths. All of these happened only in two years.

Luna witnessed what had been the long and laborious journey of the young teenager that was Mikan Sakura back then. Her life had become more and more suffocating, between the training, the missions, way too dangerous for such young kids, being constantly separated from her friend Natsume, the sexual attraction of the so named Kuonji toward her, and how she had managed, each time, to escape his disgusting touch. Life was becoming harder and harder to support, to deal with for the poor girl, who still managed to remain untainted by the dirt encircling her… The thirteen years old Mikan Sakura took a bullet to protect a child, she refused categorically to kill and kept being generous to the ones who needed her help the most. But it was only one way to brighten her life, to trick her heart so she would have the courage to face the following days. Luna realized just how close Mikan Sakura had been from suicide. Yet, once again, it was her compassionate and generous nature that kept her from ending her life. The fourteen years old girl had feared the consequence that would fall inexorably on her friend, Natsume Hyûga, if she ever achieved to kill herself… He would be left alone to face this miserable life; all her missions would have been given to him and she knew that such a rhythm would have killed him. Let apart the fact that Natsume Hyûga would have been the one to deal with Kuonji's anger once her suicide would have been discovered…

Eventually came the day when the fourteen years old teenagers were send to the mission that had seen the end of Natsume Hyûga, Mikan Sakura's first love. Luna's heart sank at the scene: the young girl had had no other choices, it was either her friend's life or a thousand ones that had to be sacrificed that night. The usually dreamy woman felt very down-to-earth at that sight. At fourteen years old Harry had witnessed Cedric Diggory's death and Voldemort rise again. This little girl, at the same age, had been in the obligation to confront her friend, possessed by an unknown wizard's Horcrux. She had planted a dagger in his heart and had held him close to her chest, never breaking eyes contact with him, crying and apologizing, whispering comforting nonsense to him. Before to give his last breath away, the little boy kissed her on the check and whispered her his gratitude, biding her his farewells... That day, a part of her soul died... _'There're people like Harry and Mikan Sakura whose life is always hit by the worst unjustified injustices, when others do never struggle in their life and do never realize how thankful they should be for it…'_ thought sadly Luna.

The witch wasn't given the opportunity to observe how the younger version of the Alice handed the Artefact over to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Natsume Hyûga dead, the overwhelmed young woman tried to escape from the gasp of the ESP. She took her time to find a good place to burry and give the last homages to the little boy. Unfortunately, Mikan Sakura's escape was short lived as she was soon confronted again by the clandestine organization. They were merciless to the already defeated little girl. The poor creature was cruelly beaten up and had to endure countless humiliations. Luna froze, horrified: Men and women of the organization touched the little girl, played with her tortured and bruised naked body, amused by her uncontrollable sobs, her cries of agony. They had finally achieved to break her, taint her! Her undercover name _The Red Lotus_ didn't represent anymore her purity, but the color of the blood she had lost that night, from her broken barriers, from the molestation and the several penetrations… This little saint, usually full of courage, had been turned into a sobbing broken toy who was now imploring them to kill her; to end her endless pains; begging, in vain, for mercy…

Luna couldn't neither tear her eyes away from the cruel scenery, nor from Mikan Sakura's eyes. She was trembling uncontrollably and was feeling sick. _'How could people be so cruel toward another human being?'_ Luna knew the response to well... The Mankind did find a perverted pleasure into breaking and lowering others to their levels… _'Oh, yes! Who could better understand Mikan Sakura's pain than me?'_ thought Luna, bitterly. She had witnessed and experienced too much of it herself… Her own souvenirs from when she had been kidnapped by the Death Eaters came back mercilessly, forcefully to her mind. Silent tears began to slip down her pale checks and Luna made no efforts to wipe them away. A wave of understanding crossed Mikan's hazel wet eyes. _'We have gone through the same horrors and cruelty of war...'_

Thankfully, another souvenir came. It was two years after the incident, which showed Mikan Sakura wake up in the middle of a real bloodbath, with a powerful scent of burned chair. Luna shivered at the terrifying and inhuman scenery. After two years of a long induced-coma, the sixteen years old girl had changed both physically and spiritually. She had a countless number of Alices Stones inside her body, which had grown up and was more muscular. Particularly, Mikan was also able to observe every living being's aura. The same ability that Luna had gained the day her mother died…

The dirty blond-haired witch was in no power to comfort the little girl in front of her. Yet, she was in the desperate need to hold her in her arms and to tell her that everything would be alright, that she would be in safety now. But Luna knew that she couldn't and would never be able to ensure such a promise. Luna observed passively and silently Mikan Sakura struggle with her new life, directed by her body's and its Stones' instability; directed by her initiative to stay away from her former friends, from fear to be rejected and to not be worthy enough to be in their company. So, she chose instead to protect them, ensure them a peaceful life, by dismounting all the clandestine organizations that tracked Alices. _'No one else would ever have to endure the same things I have gone through…'_

In the hope to be able to understand more about what had happened to her, and how to master all her Alices, Mikan Sakura had progressively began her researches on the subject. During her investigations through the world, the young woman had discovered and been introduced to many hidden communities, but the one she stayed the longer in had been Kamar-Taj, which she had frequented for many years. The young woman had been slightly initiated to the Mystic Arts by an ageless woman named the Ancient One. The two became friends and Mikan opened progressively her heart to her tutor. The Ancient One allowed Mikan the full access to her private library, which resulted in the most interesting of discoveries, between the Infinity Stones, the Nine Realms, to Nicholas Flamel's personal diary, and all the enthralling and terrifying truths and secrets that were held in it…

Finally, Luna chose to broke eye contact. She had seen far enough to be able to be ensured of Mikan Sakura's trustworthiness; she didn't feel the need to see any further. The latter was pale, in fact Luna and Harry would have even said colorless… Shame, self-hatred and loneliness were storming in her hazel eyes. Yet, she still kept looking fiercely at them, with the confidence of a warrior. Mikan Sakura hadn't survived all these years for nothing, she wasn't deluded enough to spend all her time crying over her sorry fate or complaining about it. Too many people had given their lives to save hers, too many had died when she hadn't. Her life was the result of the strong love of two people who had barely been given the chance to consume their union; of Nonno Sakura's priceless affection and attention, who had taken care of her so well that she was still ashamed of her runaway, of living him alone. Mikan was alive thanks to Hotaru's sacrifice, the day she had taken a bullet instead of her; of Natsume's kindness and protectiveness; of so many others, just like Shiki, her Uncle, Tsubasa Sempai, Luca…

Harry looked worriedly at Luna, who was still crying, unconscious of the tears falling down her cheeks. Mikan surprised the two wizards when she advanced to Luna and wiped the last tears away from her wide silvery eyes. Finally, Mikan sighed heavily:

"I don't think that we can say that we are victims anymore." Mikan whispered softly in her hair, taking the small woman in her protective and warm embrace. "We do call survivors the people who, like us, are able to hold their head up to the sky after all what they had to endure, all what they have faced. We all died that day, wishing that our lives had ended for real, yet we had and still do have to go through the motions of being alive… We have to fight our demons, face them, but especially not let them rule our lives with fear and shame."

Luna nodded at the younger woman in her arms and smiled slightly at her, thankful: Mikan Sakura had guessed that she still hadn't spoken to Harry about that incident. In fact, she hadn't spoken about her aggression to anyone, she had kept that dirty secret to herself. Who would have understood what she had gone through? People saw her already as the loony and crazy woman whose father had handed the Golden Trio over to the Death Eaters. They would just accuse her to have fucked up with them, and the word hooker would simply be added to her list of names… The Wizarding Society was full of prejudices and wasn't any better than the Muggle World. If even possible, they were more close-minded than Muggles were, which was ironic since they had Magic! _Indeed…_ This was the reason why all of this could be resumed in that clever sentence a Muggle woman had once said: _'Rape is the only crime in which the victim becomes the accused'_ This was sharp and harsh, but it was an inexorable truth. So why would Luna speak about it to anyone, if it would mean to suffer even more from it? Why would she do this to her friends who had themselves already suffered too much from the consequences of the war? She would have been either blamed or pitied, but not one would have been able to understand what she had endured…

"Oh dear! Your head is so full of Wrackspurts! You should be careful, or they are going to insert silly thoughts in your dreamy head!" teased Mikan playfully: the effect was instantaneous. Luna, who knew that the Alice in front of her had disabled her Mind-Reading for a long time already, giggled in surprise and looked at Mikan eagerly:

"You are able to see them too?!" asked the now excited woman, distracted enough to forget her problems. "I suppose that only people who can see others' auras will ever know about their existence…"

Harry had been worried by the strange interaction between Luna and Mikan Sakura, who was obviously trying to cheer up his friend upset by something unknown from him. So, when the ambiance between the two women passed from a sad and full of emotions one to a friendly discussion about Wrackspurts, Crumple-horned Snorkacks and all those creatures Luna believed into, Harry tried his very best to not choke on surprise. If he did, he wasn't even sure that it would even be noticed as the two women seemed to be completely absorbed in their own world. The only thing that he had understood from their weird exchange was that Mikan Sakura could have his entire trust and that he had to have a serious discussion with Luna when this mission would be over.

"Of course, I can see them! This Horcrux – it is how you call them right? – is full of them. Pretty nasty creatures, aren't they? They had a gift for choosing the most instable and deranged spirits. Well in this case a piece of soul. What a disgusting thing it is! I really do wonder who can do such an insane and immoral thing to himself…"

"Well Voldemort had made seven of them…" stated blankly Harry.

"Dear God!"

"He was a dangerous and powerful Dark Wizard who inspired so much fear inside the Wizarding Societies that people, even after his death, still call him 'You-Know-Who', 'The Dark Lord' or even 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named'. These eight Horcruxes had allowed him to expand incredibly his lifespan, and he couldn't die before all the soul's containers were destroyed…" explained Luna. "It has been Harry's quest to destroy them and to defeat him. Which he had managed to do at the age of seventeen."

Mikan smiled thoughtfully at the man in front of her and studied him with her penetrating gaze, making Harry feel uncomfortable. Finally, the younger woman smiled at him appreciatively:

"You have a kind, full of courage and daring soul. This may be the reason why you are so attracted to danger." at the sight of Harry's surprised expression and of the little blush on his cheeks, a playful sparkle twinkled in her hazel eyes before she added in a teasing tone of confidence: "You see, your charming friend and I have earned in our life the special ability to observe the world in a completely different way. To us, everything is a blur of colors and lights. From every object, every being does emanate a specific aura and light. This light does link everything together. As for the auras, it allows us to see deeply in the truth and nature of every beings. We have to be really concentrated to be able to observe the world the way you do, which is the reason why most of the people like us always does seem dreamy and detached of the world to the others, when we are, in fact, looking at its deepest."

"And I do believe that it is the reason why you wanted me to be the one to cast the spell. Your secrets will be well guarded with me, you do not have to worry about this." Luna paused, relieved to see some colors return to Mikan Sakura's face, who had been quite pale. "You are an incredible woman Mikan Sakura, I am very pleased to meet you and I really wish you to achieve your goals. I think that we could become very good friends!"

"Then Luna call me Mikan. Just Mikan and I will accept this new bound of friendship wholeheartedly!"

Harry observed, puzzled, the two new friends. Oddly, Harry wasn't that surprised by Mikan's explications: Luna had always been a very observant person, who was able to see in the deepest of someone's soul. ' _Then, maybe Wrackspurts, Crumpled-Horned Snorkacks, and all those creatures, are only their ways to describe the vibes, auras and all that kind of stuff that only them are able to observe…'_ Harry watched Mikan Sakura and Luna beam simultaneously at each other, in a private way, that only the two of them could have understood. The twenty-eight years old man sighed amusedly at the two newly friends' extravagance: _'And a knew weird friendship has seen the day!'_ he thought. "Well girls, do you mind discussing about more serious matters?"

Luna only nodded, a dreamy smile back on her face, when Mikan smiled sheepishly at him.

"The S.H.I.E.L.D – I believe that you are its new members – has its advantages and good points, but this organization is far from being flawless, or fair." began Mikan, with an already more serious expression. "Currently, the S.H.I.E.L.D is in the possession of too dangerous weapons and Artefacts for them to handle, just like this one. My intention, when I came to the Helicarrier was to get Fury to tell me where were guarded the most dangerous ones. I just finished with the most important one and I came to take care of the Necklace, since it is the reason why I had to kill my friend ten years ago. To be honest with you, as long as this disgusting thing is destroyed, it doesn't really matter to me who will do it."

"Then don't worry about this. I know how to take care of these. At twelve, I destroyed one without being aware of the diary's real nature. I have destroyed and helped to destroy seven others afterwards." explained Harry, voluntarily omitting the fact that he had been one himself… "Horcruxes can only be destroyed if their containers are destroyed beyond repair. The venom of a basilisk, the killing curse, the Fiendfyre or the Sword of Gryffindor are the only confirmed magical ways to destroy them. We do have a basilisk's fang with us and we were about to use it just before you came."

"Well, before we do process into doing this, Mikan, I wondered, since you do possess the Evil Spirit Manipulation Alice, if you would mind trying to see to whom this Horcrux belongs and if there are others Horcruxes from its creator?" proposed subtly Luna, who saw Harry's clever eyes lighten up at her idea.

"If such a thing is possible it would truly be welcomed! No one wants another Dark Wizard to rise again from God knows where… There is no need to add more problems to the Earth's security; Loki's and the extraterrestrial's threats are already too much!" admitted Harry, who was inwardly trying to calm his new agitation.

Mikan sighed, she was rather reluctant to use her Alice on the Necklace, but she understood their point. The young woman closed her eyes and focused her mind on the strongest source of spiritual energy in the vault. She also enabled her Telepathy Alice, so Harry Potter and Luna could witness the exchange. When the Alice opened her eyes again, it was to be faced by the spectral shape of what seemed to be an Ancient Greek wizard, with distinctly snakelike features. He was smirking haughtily at her, just as if he had made a joke that he was the only one to understand.

 _"I believe that we do face each other again Mikan Sakura Yukihira… You seem quite mad…"_ he stated amusingly, _"…Do you still hold your friend's death against me?"_

Mikan inhaled deeply and clenched her fists, her eyes had become a shade darker, burning with hatred. It was her turn to smirk at him:

"And I think that it will be the last time you will face someone!"

 _"If I was you I wouldn't be so confident! My Magic is more powerful than Tom Riddle's. Your two friends will never be able to destroy the Necklace with a basilisk fang! How funny isn't?!"_ he sniggered coldly, looking down upon her. He added in a patronizing tone: _"You see dear_ child _, I was the first wizard to hatch a Basilisk and I am the one who created the Horcrux crafting process, all my Horcruxes are protected by the darkest kind of Magic, no one had ever been able to destroy any of them!"_

Harry and Luna looked at each other in horror. Herpo the Foul was still alive and the three Horcruxes that he had always liked to brag about were undestroyed!

 _"Mikan, this wizard is well known in all the Wizarding Societies as Herpo the Foul. All we have ever known about him is the fact that he had created three Horcruxes. Voldemort had been a lot inspired by his works and achievement… Do you think that you could bring him to talk more about them?"_ asked Harry.

 _"I'll try."_ responded the Alice, without turning her gaze from the Dark Wizard's heavy and burning stare. "So, you have created other Horcruxes?" asked rhetorically Mikan. Men like him had all the same weakest spot: their incommensurable ego. She had to focus on it: "If your technique is so perfect, I don't see why you did feel the need to create more than one…"

Herpo the Foul's ghostly features hardened:

 _"Are you doubting the perfection of my technics? How insulting coming from such a young pathetic child as yourself! Let me tell you this, three is a powerful magical number, the best for the creation of Horcruxes. When someone creates less it isn't as functional and if this number is exceeded then the soul become too instable. It is a part of the rituals."_ he told her haughtily, just as if it was the most evident thing in the world.

"You were right about me criticizing the perfection of your creation. It is well known that Horcruxes are the most vulgar ways to expand someone's life! Sorcerers and wizards have actually found better ways to do exactly the same without damaging their biggest source of magical energy! Nicholas Flamel's Philosopher's Stone is already a better option!"

" _Oh, please_ darling _!"_ sighed dramatically the ghostly figure, _"Are you talking about Allice's creation? A pretty lame idea if you want my opinion!"_ he affirmed condescendingly, _"What's the point of tiring yourself with organizing massive bloodbaths, genocides, world wars to be able to resource constantly a stone? A big waste of time I would say, even though it is enthralling to see entire populations being the dolls of a single man's will!"_

Mikan wasn't surprised by the real nature of Nicholas Flamel, she already knew that the Philosopher's Stone derived its power from people's souls, allowing its owner to extend his life as he pleased. It was the same for Harry, he didn't know about how the Stone worked, yet he had his own reasons to believe in the Foul's words: _"Flamel was a good friend of Dumbledore, it just seems that both men shared a great talent at manipulating others' mind…"_ Yet, Mikan couldn't help but stiff inwardly at the mention of Allice.

"Are you saying that Nicholas Flamel isn't the one who created the Philosopher's Stone?" asked Mikan, faking being shocked. _'People like him speaks a lot when they feel that they are superior to their opponents…'_

" _That is exactly what I'm saying. All his works are in fact the production of an Asgardian Sorcerer. I definitely prefer my own methods! Where's the point of immortality if you are dependent of someone else?"_ his cruel, cold, snakelike eyes exanimating her. _"Allice was a clever Sorcerer he gifted Flamel with the Philosopher's Stone to ensure his loyalty. Flamel was just a coworker, merely an equal, rather a slave dominated by his master's will…"_

"I've read enough about him to tell you that you are wrong. Nicholas Flamel is known to be the only being in the Nine Realms whose knowledge could have matched Allice's." baited him Mikan, knowing that he couldn't let pass such an insult to his ego. She seemed to have been right since his aura darkened, if such a thing was even possible.

Harry was now completely lost, Mikan Sakura, a twenty-four years old Muggle raised woman seemed to know more about Nicholas Flamel than he, Luna and Hermione, all reunited did. He frowned and observed intently the tense exchange between one of the most powerfully Dark Wizard of the Wizarding World and the young woman he had just been introduced to. Yet, Harry had to admit that Mikan Sakura had earned his complete respect in less than a half hour. Her head high, she was facing the danger as fiercely as a tigress. Indeed, she didn't seem to be impressed by her opponent, rather disgusted by him.

 _"It is because everyone thought that I was dead back then. In fact, they still do, and it is the time to change it…"_ Herpo the Foul smiled evilly at her, his snakelike features making him look like a predator appreciating his new prey. _"You see child, I have myself worked with Allice for one thousand years more than Flamel did. Believe me, I know how to recognize his magical signature, and if I have sensed it in you at our previous encounter, it wasn't as strong as it is today. You are truly interesting… You do possess at least two fragments of the Soul Stone in your body, don't you? What a lucky day for me!"_

As soon as he said it, Mikan felt a strong and aggressive wave of spiritual energy directed at her. Immediately, she activated her Barrier Alice and created the strongest shield she had ever held to protect herself and her two companions, who had taken a position of defense, back to back. The blast wave was so powerful that it made the entire structure shake.

Herpo the Foul kept reiterating repeatedly his assaults, trying to find a weak spot on the barrier; _"Good luck!"_ thought smugly Mikan, _"It is one of the Alices I'm the most compatible with! And, if I was to reinforce it with my Amplification, all my shields would become unbreakable…"_

"What should we do? We can't just teleport and let the Artefact here!" cried Harry trying to cover up the loud noise.

"I may have a solution!" yelled the young Alice back: "I know how to confine spiritual energy, even though I've never tried with such a powerful one… Yes, I think that I have the perfect solution! Just give me your basilisk's fang!"

Mikan used her Space Distortion Alice to make a small two-finger ring appear, the Sling Ring that had been gifted to her by the Ancient One. Indeed, during her stay at Kamar-Taj, Mikan hadn't spent all her time only reading books. In fact, the Ancient One had accepted and proposed to tutor in the arts of sorcery. She had taught her how to withdraw power from the Personal, Universal and Dimensional energies, in order to be able to stabilize her own body, who was like she had described it: _'Your body contain too much power and is a time bomb that is going to explode soon or later. By learning how to draw power from the three different categories of Magic, you will be able to strengthen your body. I personally think that you should focus your training on the Universal energies…'_

Mikan took the new appeared Sling Ring and wore it on her left hand. Mikan traced her right hand in a circular pattern, while focusing on her desired destination: The Mirror Dimension, which was a parallel dimension ever presents but undetected. What happened in that dimension didn't affect the real world and it was a good option to contain threats just as the one she was currently facing. Mikan hadn't forgotten the Ancient One's advices and warnings _'You don't want to be stuck in here without wearing your Sling Ring.'_

Harry and Luna witnessed the first portal Mikan had conjured enclose itself around the Necklace, which make it vanish from the vault.

"I am going to fight it in another dimension that won't affect this world. There is something that I want to try, but I'll need your basilisk's fang" Mikan explained quickly to Harry and Luna.

Harry shacked his head, still startled by the strange nature of the Magic Mikan Sakura had just used in front of them.

"We are coming with you." he said firmly.

"We can't follow her, Harry. The Mirror Dimension is very dangerous for people like us who had never been trained to get into it, or just who doesn't own a Sling Ring" sighed Luna. She pulled from her bag the fang and handed it over to Mikan. "Just be careful.". The Alice nodded silently at her, drew another portal and entered in the Mirror Dimension.

Just as always, the scenery was the space distorted version of the room in which she had drawn the portal. In fact, the space was continually and rapidly distorting, which was the reason why it would have taken her a little time to find the Horcrux she had placed in it if it hadn't taken the initiative to assault her. Mikan dodged every assault skillfully, thanks to her flexibility and to her Barrier Alice. Just as before Herpo the Foul's piece of soul was assaulting her at an astounding rate. Powerful waves of spiritual energy were mercilessly thrown towards her, never reaching their constantly moving target. _The best defense is a good attack…_ It was a universally acknowledge strategic principle of war and Herpo the Foul was hanging on it. Mikan Sakura was able to block his attacks, which was the reason why the Horcrux was trying to not let her the time to think or to attack it.

Since this could have lasted the entire day, Mikan activated her Doppelganger Alice, fulling the entire room with countless clones, all protected by her strong and unbreakable shields. It was her turn to take the offensive. She doted each one with the Evil Spirit Manipulation Alice and a fang whose venom had been powered by her Amplification Alice.

The Evil Spirit Manipulation Alice was supposed to allow its user to control evil spirits and demons. Not only is the holder able to manipulate evil spirits but can also absorb most negative spiritual Alice attacks to amplify the holder's own Alice. The latter option was impossible as it worked only on Alice's attacks, but the first one would be possible if Mikan achieved to reduce the enormous spiritual strength of the Horcrux… Which was exactly what Mikan proceeded into. Her clones were too strong and well protected for the spirituals attacks, and, if some were hit by the blows, the others did find their ways to the Horcrux, stabbing repeatedly it with the basilisk's fangs. Mikan kept this sustained rhythm for an indefinite period of time, to the point that she wouldn't be able to say if twenty minutes or hours had passed before she could see some result of her efforts.

The spiritual strength of the Horcrux was progressively fading, as Mikan had added her Corrosion Alice to the effect of the basilisk's venom. When it had reached a controllable level, Mikan tried to master The Foul's spirit with Yoichi's Alice. She smiled as it reluctantly submitted to her will.

"You were right. Today is a lucky day. Sadly, for you, luck is on my side!"

 _"Are sure?"_ the Foul's eyes were mocking her, more condescending than ever… _"You don't look like someone who has won, rather like someone who is dying!"_ he sniggered viciously at her, pointing at her. The darkish black color of her skin was now contrasting with the pallor of her face.

 _"If I do not end this fast, I am going to lose control over my Alices…"_

"What was your connection with Allice?" replied Mikan, choosing to ignore his mockery.

 _"I've worked with him for nearly two thousand years… He came to me at first because he wanted to study more closely the differences and similarities of the different kinds of Magic. I was the most powerful wizard on Earth, so it was logical that Allice would take an interest on me… He also studied and worked with the Sorcerer Supreme of that time."_

"What do you know about his work on the Stones?"

 _"Allice was constantly in research of more power, he thought that by mastering a better knowledge of the Realms' history the different kinds of Magics, he would be more likely to find the Stones."_

"What was your part in his research? I don't think that all he wanted from you to was to study your Magic. No. Allice could have chosen any other wizard who wasn't half as rotten and untrustworthy as you are! This means that he needed you." asked Mikan, frustrated and afraid to learn more about the matter. She was certain that whatever Herpo the Foul was to tell her, it wasn't going to please her at the very least.

 _"You are quite a perceptive little girl, aren't you? You do have traces of Allice's magic inside your body. I do believe that you do possess one of these Alice Stones he has created. And, from what I have observed, it seems obvious to me that you are the holder of at least one of the Two Alices… I'd even say two… Who are you?"_

"Well tried, _darling_ , but I am the one who asks the questions in here, and you the one to respond to them. So, I'm asking it one last time: What – Do – You – Know – About – Allice?" Mikan asked through clenched teeth.

 _"As you may already know, Odin and two of his brothers, Ve and Vili, had tried to take Surtur, the King of the Fire Giants, down after they were done with Ymir, the Frost Giant. The three brothers wanted to prevent the Ragnarok from happening. They achieved into doing this, but Ve and Vili were killed in the process…"_

"Tell me something that I don't know!" cut him coldly Mikan. "I am not here for you to give me an history course!".

She could see his ghostly features tighten, and Mikan felt a perverted pleasure into angering him.

 _"After defeating Surtur, Odin stole his Eternal Flame and earned the Odinforce. Later, Allice had managed to steal the Twilight Sword, without Odin's knowledge. Only Frost and Fire Giants can use this enormous sword. But it did have powerful magical properties that interested Allice a lot."_ , Herpo the Foul posed, his traits full of arrogance. _"The sword is catalyst for magic energies, and it can increase its user power, while acting also as a shield to prevent other magic objects form harming its user to a point. It also has the power to cut all forms of metals and magic barriers. He wanted me to find a way for him to make a replicate, with the same properties, that he would be able to use… At that time, his magical skills only allowed him to make unpalpable illusions."_

"You seem to be rather proud of yourself. Am I wrong to say that you have achieved into doing so?"

The Dark Wizard smiled evilly at her.

 _"Not only have I been able to do it, but it had also allowed me to create the Fiendfyre spell!"_

"…And?"

 _"Allice sword is my second Horcrux. It is only when he came into the possession of the Soul Stone that he did found out about it, which is the reason why he stopped nearly all our interactions. You will never be able to find it."_

"What else do you know about him?"

 _"He had hidden his whole works into four books: The History of The Nine Realms, which hide a copy of The Book of Cagliostro; The Theory of the Seven Universes; The Tales of Beedle the Bard and Flamel's Diary. He had charmed them so only the holders of the Two Alices and Loki Laufeyson may be able to find and read them."_

Mikan felt her heart beat faster, her body trembling with excitation. She was already in the possession of one of these books and maybe it contained clues to find the others that she hadn't seen. Suddenly, she realized the meaning of the second part of his sentence… Loki was the only other living being who would have been able to find the books. But why?

"Where did he hide them? And why would Allice want Loki to find his books?"

 _"Isn't evident?"_

"No. It is not. Tell me."

 _"Two of them are hidden on earth and two on Asgard. They do only appear when the Two Alices do. Do not ask me for a precise location, Allice didn't trust me enough to let me be in the confidence…"_

"A clever man he was, wasn't he? Tell me, just tell me who the hell is going to trust someone, who has splitted three time in a row his soul?" asked ironically Mikan, the dark marks on her face not hiding to the very least the disgust, nor the hatred she held toward him.

 _"… Well, if you hadn't interrupted me, I would have explained you what Loki's part in this is…"_

"Oh, believe me, I do have all my time to interrogate you. _Speak!_ "

 _"You are soooo rude! Darling, tell me: do you really think that Odin, a pitiless diplomatic and warrior, would have taken with him and raised the son of the man who took his eye, without being convinced to do so?"_

Mikan's eyes widened in comprehension: "Allice is the one who convinced him to do so. And strangely, Loki turns out to be Asgard most powerful Sorcerer! But why? Loki is Jotun."

 _"Exactly. Allice tricked Laufey and Snotra, the Asgardian goddess of cleverness, into conceiving a child. I was the one who brewed the potion he used in that very intent: Amortentia, the most powerful love potion existent in the Nine Realms… Laufey is the king of the Frost Giants, while Snotra was the most powerful Sorceress of Asgard, next to Frigga... He wanted an heir, whose magical abilities could one day surpass his."_

"So… You are telling me that Loki is simply the result of an experiment?!" choked Mikan, worried about Loki's reaction if he was ever to find out about this truth…

 _"Yes… Loki is only half Jotun, a bastard, born from an unreal union… Allice only possible problem was to get rid of Snotra, which he managed successfully to do by killing her during the Asgardian-Jotunheim War, fueled by his schemes..._

 _It is only logical. Having Loki raised in Asgard was doubly strategical. For Odin, he was simply a bargaining chip for future political negotiations. For Allice, Loki was way more important: as a Frost Giant raised in Asgard, he had the potential to master the two kinds of Magic to a very extended level. Furthermore, Loki real nature allows him to use the Casket of Ancient Winters and the Twilight Sword…"_

Mikan closed her eyes, disgusted. Her and Loki's life had been full of lies because of the same man.

"What is your last Horcrux? Where did you put it?" she suddenly asked. All she wanted now was to get quickly get rid of the Necklace in front of her. "Do you know anything else about him?"

 _"Perseus' Helm of Darkness, this is my last Horcrux… You can't find it. It was taken and reforged by Hela, who is rotting in Hel now…"_

"Loki's daughter?"

Mikan was surprised to see him laugh uncontrollably at her and tried to remain, so she waited, frustrated, for him to stop.

 _"Do not believe all of what is written in books… Really, how funny it was! Hela isn't Loki's but Odin's firstborn daughter, real sister of Thor... She had been banished from Asgard and imprisoned in Hel by her own father, who thought that she was too dangerous since she wanted to conquer the Nine Realms…"_ mocked Herpo the Foul.

 _'Let it to the Norse gods to have the most complicated family relationships…'_ thought Mikan, exasperated. "You didn't respond my last question… Is there anything else that you could tell me about Allice, or his projects?" she reminded him.

 _"… No._ " the spirit admitted reluctantly, knowing too well what was going to happen next.

Mikan didn't wait any further and imprisoned the Horcrux inside a strong and unbreakable barrier, so it would contain all the evil curses protecting the Horcrux… After all, then Necklace had been weakened enough to be destroyed by the Corrosion Alice and Mikan used all her restante strength to turn it into ashes.

The young woman inhaled, coughing uncontrollably, and struggled to breath. Mikan was hurting everywhere, Dark marks were covering all her body: she had officially abused too much of the Corrosion Alice. Shaking, Mikan willed herself into drawing another portal. Everything was a confused blur of color and darkness; her mind was a blur of color and darkness. Where had she been? Which destination was she going to? Mikan collected her last forces, passed the portal, which enclosed itself behind her. As she collapsed, she didn't see Loki's catching her unconscious body, confused by her state and her sudden apparition.

* * *

 **AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA**

 **A.N:**

 **I really hope that you have liked this chapter.**

 **I just wanted to say that I know many people who had gone through rape, and, even though it is hard to do, women and men who had endured this should not keep it for themselves. The only person to blame is the rapper not the victim.  
**


	7. Seduction Games and Compromises:

**Here is the seventh chapter, released just for the 1st April ^^ =P  
**

 **But don't worry this isn't a prank! ...OK... I'll stop I'm pathetic at humor...**

 **Please review and tell me what you think about it!**

 ** **Disclaimer: I do not own neither Gakuen Alice, which belongs to Tachibana Higuchi, nor Avengers, which belongs to Marvel and even less Harry Potter, which is the work of the wonderful J.K.R :) But I do own the plot and my OC characters of course.****

 **Chapter 7: Seduction Games and Compromises:**

Every known muscle of Mikan's body was hurting like hell; a groan escaped from her lips. The young woman tried to open her eyes, a task which appeared to be more painful than expected. She blinked several times before to be able to correctly focus on her surroundings and froze, horrified by the unexpected scenery that came to her sight.

Mikan was in an unknown place and her body was only covered by a poor excuse of a robe, that revealed way too much skin for her liking or rather that covered nearly nothing! The young woman shivered and turned her head to the source of the cool breeze that had passed by; her eyes landed on an open window from which she could observe _three suns_. Wherever she was, it was obviously not on Earth.

The Alice felt herself start to panic: she was practically naked, had no idea of where she was, who could have brought her in another Planet, Realm or Dimension, she was still too weak to hope to escape from any possible enemy and the last thing she could remember was herself destroying the Foul's Horcrux and losing all the hell of control over the Corrosion Alice. At this point of her list, Mikan examined her body only to conclude that nearly all the dark marks covering it had faded: even though her body was still hurting, all danger over her life had passed. Well, from the Corrosion Alice at least…

Mikan tensed at the sound of footsteps within the place. The door of the room creaked open and Mikan jolted up. When Loki's familiar features appeared, she felt herself relax and couldn't help but groan annoyedly at him.

"This wasn't the kind of expression I was waiting from you _sweetheart._ " Loki smirked.

"I suppose that you did find your way out of your capsule." stated Mikan, with a hoarse voice due to her dry mouth. Yet, the Alice was reassured to be facing him and not someone that she knew nothing about.

"Well if you do not remember, you are the one who appeared in my cell – quite a habit of yours I have to say – your body full of a powerful energy that it could barely contain. I only killed two birds with one stone by using it to free myself and get you rid of it." he grinned wryly, too pleased of himself for Mikan's opinion.

As Loki stepped fully in the room, Mikan could see him completely. The Alice remarked that he was wearing a complete Asgardian outfit, all in leather, bearing a long dark cloak, a long staff and a gleaming horned helmet. At the last detail, Mikan snickered, making no efforts to hide her laughter. She clutched her hurting stomach as she was laughing uncontrollably, her entire body shaking in hysterics.

"Loki! What is that thing that you are wearing on your head? You look like a cow!" cackled Mikan as Loki looked scandalized. "If you really wanted to impress me you should have removed it, or at least have the decency to come here by yourself!"

"Soul?" Loki arched his brow, as he realized his mistake. The frustration of being mocked still not forgotten.

"Yes, your clones radiate no feelings, no aura and are soulless. It feels just like I am facing a doll, or in your case, you are only appearing to me like a kind of hologram." explained Mikan, a small smirk still playing on her lips.

"I should have guessed it. You really and completely have the same abilities as Heimdall…"

"I am more restricted than him. He is the only being who can sense anyone from any place of the Nine Realms. Also, he is using Magic when I don't."

Mikan frowned and gained some seriousness.

"I think that we have more important matters to discuss. You would be lovely to take me back to Earth. Sadly, I am pretty sure that you won't… Loki, I wasn't in my right mind when I appeared into your capsule. It was your lucky day. Yet, believe me, I am far from being stupid: I know you need me. When you could have let me there, you choose to take me with you instead." Mikan said flatly.

"You're not even afraid of being held by me, nor that I have taken you so far from Earth, into a place unknown even to Heimdall, or that you are so weak I could crush with no effort!" he observed, slightly impressed.

Mikan looked at him, unfazed by the list of threats he had just mentioned.

"Would it have been someone else who had taken me away, I might have. I said might Loki, because I've never been afraid of dying…" the last part of her sentence was reduced to a murmur, but Loki understood too well what she referring to.

"Also… I trust the fact that you are not the kind of man who do things without a purpose. If you have bothered yourself to take me with you, this just means that you're expecting something from me. Now the question is what it is that you want?"

Mikan felt Loki's piercing gaze studying her, and, inwardly, she shivered. It was frustrating how vulnerable she was! Still too weak to be able to move and yet practically naked. Loki was, of course, too conscious of his advantage and took his time to examine her fully. From head to toes…

Even though the young woman lying before him was nearly colorless, that her long thick hair was a real mess and that her body was scarred, she wasn't less attractive to his eyes. It just added glory to her beauty. And, the fact that she was lying down, powerless, yet looking fiercely at him, daring him to try anything and that she was nearly covered by nothing didn't help the matters… ' _Mikan Sakura clearly has the potential to drove any man crazy. Even me…'_ Loki thought reluctantly.

Loki had never felt any kind of attraction to a woman before, let alone sexually. He approached women only when they proved themselves useful to him, and let the mistresses and love affairs to his brother and the Warriors Three. He was quite of a virgin and was assuming it completely. Love, and all what followed brought even the strongest people into weak and begging beings while facing the other party. Once the act made, this image would eternally remain in the other's mind, a compromise that Loki was never, ever ready to make for such a delusional matter. However, his attraction to the woman lying before him was pretty real and wouldn't have been that much of a problem if Mikan Sakura, this delicate and strong flower, hadn't been able to sense his feelings. Loki was very conscious of how careful he had to be around her. Thankfully, he wasn't only interested in her for that very aspect. He had other plans concerning his _Little One_. _For now, at least_ …

Loki shook off these disturbing, inappropriate thoughts and reported his attention on the Midgardian's body, which was undeniably in a better shape than the previous days: nearly all the dark marks had disappeared, and she was able of coherent thoughts. The _Little One_ had come a long way and even him couldn't explain how she had survived her state, even though he was sure that it wasn't the first time something similar happened to her.

Once again, a cold breeze sent shivers down Mikan's spine. Loki frowned before to materialize a more decent dress of the color of the twilight sky that seemed more of an Asgardian outfit and a blanket but let the window open. Mikan covered herself with the blanket and waited to feel better to put the dress. Being more covered than she initially was – which wasn't that hard she had to say – made her feel safer. She relaxed a bit more and failed to realize that, of them two, Loki was the most relieved one.

"Your fever has dropped, there's no more need for this now." Loki said in a soft voice, close to a whisper.

"Are you trying to tell me that you got me nearly naked close to an open window, so my fever would drop?!" she asked incredulous, obviously waiting from him to explain himself. Mikan scowled at his shameless and provocative grin. Finally, he decided himself to clarify the situation she was in.

"When you appeared in my cell, _four days ago_ …" Loki paused to let her digest this information. "Your entire body was covered by dark marks, you were burning with fever and delirious. I freed you of enough energy to materialize in another planet – just for you to know – and the past three days, even my Magic couldn't help healing you. I must admit that I wasn't even sure if you were to survive or not. As for why I put you here, it is quite simple since this was the only remaining option. You were burning so hot that your body had reached impossible temperatures. It was either this or you died. What I would really like to know thou is what or who did bring you to such a state."

Mikan shrugged and stayed vague about the subject.

"I overused my Alices, especially the Corrosion."

Loki waved his hand and a chair floated across the room, so he could sit in front of her without invading her personal space. From down below, Mikan couldn't help but think that his clothes suited him and particularly highlighted his tall, svelte and elegant stature. For sure, elegance was in his nature. He wanted to impress her and, even though she was reluctant to admit it, she had to say that he was achieving in doing so.

As he caught her blatantly staring at him, he gave her a sly grin. Mikan resisted the urge to roll her eyes. _'It sucks that he is looking down at me this way and that I can't do anything to shut him down!'_ Mikan thought frustrated.

"I should be mad at you, but surprisingly I think that I don't care that much about it, I am too tired to waste my energy into that." admitted Mikan. "As for your Magic being helpless to the matter, just know that even after spending years alongside the Sorcerer Supreme, we haven't been able to find a satisfactory solution." she sighed. "Loki, you still have not told me what you want from me."

"To be honest, I have never been interested into conquering Midgard, quite a loss of precious time I would say." he started.

"I already know this Loki." cut him softly Mikan. "The truth is that the Ancient One and myself were wondering about what could have brought you to choose the Earth over more interesting Realms, just as Jotunheim. But... I suppose that, since you are choosing to involve me, this means that it is my and its particular connection with Allice that might have interested you."

"You do realize how reckless of you it is to give me such an information like this before I even could have the chance to ask you about the matter?!" Loki laughed incredulous.

"I don't have that much energy to spend into being a hypocrite, Loki. You could perfectly have used the energy you have extracted from my body without taking me alongside with you. Yet, you did it anyway, when the only logical use you could have found in me is to free you from your cell. So, there are only two remaining options: either you want to bring me to Thanos to make up for your failure into bringing him the Tesseract, which I clearly doubt since he won't spare you anyway, or you have already figured the connection out." replied Mikan.

Loki smiled at her in a private manner and Mikan couldn't help but blink as she was sure to have seen a sparkle of both desire and contentment glim briefly in his icy green eyes. Whether she was right or not, it made her feel uncomfortable. Like if he was predator taking his time to appreciate his next meal, which was none other than herself.

"Well, if I start from where you have interrupted me, then yes, my only interest on Midgard is its particular connection with Allice. As the son of Hönir Borson, he had a special fondness for Midgardians: his works with both Herpo the Foul and Nicholas Flamel are the best proof of it. And, if I may say, also exactly as the nature of your powers. I am really lucky to have meet you, as you seem to be the embodiment of Allice's most successful achievements!"

"You puzzle me, Loki." whispered quietly Mikan, her eyes still closed. "If I were in better conditions, I may have understood why you are trying so hard to seduce me... But, _darling_ , in my current state, your efforts are just useless." she smirked playfully, even though it was obvious that she was still too tired, just as she had claimed to be. "So, why don't you just tell me what you must tell me, like the grown boy that you are?"

Loki smirked, too amused the provocative allusion to really feel insulted by her comment.

Mikan, her hazel eyes still closed, raised a patient eyebrow, a small smile on her face. Loki clenched his hands into fists, containing his frustration, as he realized that he could have watched her harmonious traits for hours without getting bored.

"Allice, as you may already know, was one of the most powerful Sorcerer that has ever seen the day in Asgard, or in the whole Universe. His works on Magic but also on the Infinity Stones are the most accurate to this date. Yet, this work is lost as he had divided it in four books, that he had hidden. Two on Asgard and, of course, two on Midgard."

"And you are interested in finding them, am I right?" asked rhetorically Mikan.

Excitement and adrenaline ran through her veins. Mikan opened slowly her eyes. She was already in the possession of one of these books, even though she still wasn't going to tell this to Loki. Herpo the Foul's words still fresh on her mind, she understood that Loki knowing about them meant that he possessed at least one of them too.

"Well, not specially, I am already in the possession of three of them." Mikan gasped faintly, the four books were already in their possession! Not hiding her surprise, that Loki misinterpreted for astonishment, she opened her mouth to speak, but he beat her on it: "The only problem I have faced until now was to decrypt them since they are not magically encrypted, and my intuition tells me that you may be able to help me into this."

"Say that I could read them… Or use my Alices to do so, why would I do this for you Loki? If they contain information that could make you even more dangerous than you already are, I am certainly not to help you!" scoffed Mikan. "And do me a favor please, don't you even try to threaten me. This won't work!"

"I won't need to threaten you, you are going to do it by your own will." promised Loki in an imperious tone. "We do both know that these books only do appear when the chance of the six Stones being reunited is to its highest. Furthermore, this is your only way to protect Midgard from Thanos."

Mikan tensed and glared at him. "There is no proof that he is going to attack, and, to prevent this from happening, I can just ask Thor to remove the Infinity Stones from Earth and, even if I am not the one to tell him to do so, the Ancient One or Heimdall are both wise enough to do it. Moreover, I have already destroyed the Gauntlet!" She retorted.

"Impossible! It is guarded in Odin's Vault and is indestructible…" frowned Loki.

"This is only what Allice wanted you all to think! The one in Odin's Vault is a fake. The only real Gauntlet possessed a fragment of the Soul Stone and was made of Vibranium. I got rid of it."

" _This is only what Allice wanted you all to think…_ " Loki smirked triumphantly at her and Mikan paled as she realized her mistake: "You are already in the possession of Flamel's diary. Things are going to get way more interesting than what I have originally planned! I suppose then that I had a good guess, you are indeed able to decrypt his works!"

Mikan's jaw tightened, her hazel eyes flashing dangerously. She was too tired and not careful enough, which resulted in her committing obvious mistakes. Loki was starting to seriously get on her nerves!

"Let me tell you something, Loki. Whatever it is that you are waiting from me, I won't help you, or cooperate." she affirmed firmly.

For an indeterminate space of time, Mikan and Loki regarded each other, challenging, daring the second party. It was a nonverbal battle, in which each one of them was trying to impose his will. Finally, Loki stood up.

"You are still too tired for us to have this discussion. You should rest, and then maybe you will gain some right senses."

"Then, the next time make me the pleasure to come here by yourself!" scowled Mikan.

Before to disappear, Loki caught once again Mikan's pretty and daring eyes. To come to her by himself?! In his state? It would just be his doom!

Without agreeing or making his refusal clear, Loki leaved silently the room. Mikan sighed, and way too tired to think, she fast fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Mikan had been sleeping for at least five hours when Loki decided himself to materialize in her room. Deeply asleep, the new dress he had materialized for her still lying on her side, darkness invading the room, the young woman was completely unaware of his presence, his closeness.

He sat in the same position as he had earlier and took a closer look at her. His _Little One_ seemed at peace. Far too innocent for her own good… She hadn't shown any signs of fear earlier and seemed rather frustrated by the situation she was in than afraid by it. _'But, mostly, she isn't afraid of me either'_ Loki wondered how he should react to this fact. Indeed, how insulting it was for him! And, yet, he couldn't help but admire the calm she had shown in face of such a situation.

It was obvious she knew that he wasn't going to hurt her the way some might have tried to. He wasn't of that kind of evil. If he really wanted to have her that way, Loki would rather have the satisfaction of gaining her, seducing her. His red eyes darkened at these thoughts. If he had guessed right, it was most likely that the _Little One_ had been the victim of such assaults. After all, anyone who was ready to send a twelve years old girl into dangerous and impossible missions, who had her at his mercy, would have been vicious enough to try.

With the back of his hand, he caressed the sensitive skin of her naked throat. Why couldn't he just simply get rid of her? _'These four days wasting my precious time to try save the life of a worthless Midgardian! Worthless… worthless… Is she? Am I in the position to say so after what she had achieved to do to me? After what she had turned me into?'_ thought Loki frustrated and lost. Indeed, removing that energy out of her body hadn't been priceless: unconsciously, while the _Little One_ was still delirious, she had tried to attack him, an instinctive reaction, worsening both her and his state. She had done enough damage to achieve breaking the spell that gave him an Asgardian appearance.

Lost in his thoughts, Loki hadn't realized that a pair of hazel eyes were watching him. With his bare and cold blue hand posed on her throat, Mikan didn't knew how she was supposed to react. As she had regained some forces, the young woman realized that she was in the possibility to fully sense his feelings again: pain, shame, triumph, doubts and _desire_. Mikan shivered at the last since it was obvious that the feeling was directed at her.

"The Corrosion has had its effects on you." she whispered quietly. "So, this is how you do look like as a Jotun…"

Mikan sensed his fingers tense over her skin. She had hit a soft spot of his, she was pretty sure of it. However, there was no anger directed at her. He just wanted to leave, so she wouldn't see his real appearance. Yet, Mikan was also sure that she didn't care that much about it. Indeed, as a grown man, Loki had to accept himself for what he was first, or no one else ever would.

"You know what Loki?" started Mikan, posing her hands over his, so he wouldn't leave before she had finished. "Asgardians are as stupid as they claim the Earthians to be! Indeed, isn't it a kind biggest flaw to believe themselves superior to all the others?"

Loki's red eyes were frowning at her as he understood clearly what she was implying.

"You can keep your sweet nonsense for someone else, _Little One_. Don't you bother waste your time, I won't listen to you." he replied to her in a defensive mode. Mikan smiled mysteriously at him, as she already knew that he wasn't mad at her.

At that very instant, Mikan couldn't help but be hit by the enormous similitudes between Loki and Natsume, which didn't stop to the red color of their pupils! _'Don't bother coming to the darkness that you don't need to see… I don't want to show you the darkness that doesn't belong to you…'_ Natsume had told her once, of course she was still as stubborn as she had been back then. No one ever stopped her from telling the truth. She stroked his hand absentmindedly.

"You are right, Loki. You're not someone to be pitied. I am just stating that the racial prejudices present in Asgard are the major reason why you didn't take the news very well. To be honest, I don't see a real difference between your two appearances. You are just as insufferable in the two forms! I mean seriously?! I have to say that I have met many stubborn men in my life, but you out best all of them for sure! Loki… Isn't impersonating one of your best specialty? You can change your appearance as you please thanks to your Magic, so… You do realize that it isn't the costume that does matter but the man inside the suit, right?"

Puzzled and lost, Loki stared at the young woman lying down before him. How could such simple words be an ointment to his wounded heart? Why was she so compelling to him? Why could she see right through his pains? He stayed silent and removed his hand from hers, realizing that the skin contact hadn't burned her. Mikan didn't try to stop him, her kind and warm hazel eyes observing him patiently.

Finally, Loki sighed and just nodded wordlessly.

Mikan smiled earnestly at him and took his hand back in hers. When Loki lifted a curious eyebrow, the brunette ignored him and activated her Stealing Alice. As she was finished, a black crystal of the darkest shade and of an impressive volume was laying on the palm of her left hand. Loki's hand in hers had gained its white pale color back.

"Your body isn't used to the effects of the Corrosion Alice, and it better doesn't. It is the one that had allowed me to destroy the Gauntlet which was made of _Vibranium_. Even though you have physical abilities far more developed than humans, it will affect you just the same."

"Then… Wasn't it a reckless move of yours?" Loki smirked, his eyes green again and full of humor.

"What, helping my supposed kidnapper or the only person who can bring me back to Earth?" replied maliciously Mikan, earning a grin from Loki.

With a move of his free hand, Loki closed the window, dimming the brightness of the already dark room in the process. Straight afterwards, he materialized a little orb of light. Mikan's hazel eyes widening in surprise, she realized that Loki had guessed that she was afraid of the dark.

"So… _Little One_ , are you planning on giving me my hand back?" Loki asked teasingly.

Mikan smirked amused, but did as he asked anyway.

"You really do not seem to be preoccupied by the situation you are currently in."

"I am still too tired for that."

"I still think that you really should."

"I think that I am the one who should vote on that."

"You really are lucky that I do not intend to kill you _Little One: y_ ou have just proved that you have no instinct of survival."

"I have, Loki, do not worry about that. I am just unafraid of being your prisoner. I've dealt with way worse actually and have had several experiences of imprisonments to know who and what I am dealing with."

Loki arched a curious eyebrow, encouraging her to elaborate.

"Not falling for it, try again."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Your little game to gain my trust, Loki. It is not working."

"And what if I am genuinely interested onto learning more about you?"

"I know that you are. Scratch the fact that it is either to find a weak spot for you to exploit or just to have a better idea of whom you think that you are dealing with."

"I think that I have already made myself a pretty clear idea of who you are _Little One_. People of your kind tend to be overly sentimental and you are just like most of them. Except that you are more daring and do not seem to be stopped by your fears. You belong to the ones who would prioritize their loved ones' needs before their own."

"I think that I do. Sentiments may seem to be a weakness in your humble opinion, but I would describe it otherwise. It gives people strength, especially hope and love."

"Love? Isn't it the biggest trick of life people do fall into? Believe me _sweetheart_ , there is no such thing!" mocked her Loki coldly, bitterly.

"Love doesn't just consist on saying I love you to someone or sharing a sexual relationship with the concerned person! Believe me, as someone who can sense auras and who had experienced it by herself, it really doesn't. We do love your friends, our family, our lovers… I give you the fact that true and powerful love is rarer, but it still exists!

A French writer once said that _'Aimer, c'est savoir dire je t'aime sans parler'_. To love is to be able to transmit your feelings to the beloved person without voicing them. It is most likely that people who does not believe in love are just too blind to see its most subtle manifestations! Loki, you have no real friends, chose to consider yourself family-less and most likely never had any kind of romantic relationship. It really does make sense that you are stranger to this feeling. Yet, you are the one who chose to be the way you currently are, which means that you are also the only one who can change it." whispered softly Mikan. She raised her hand and posed it over Loki's heart. His dilated green eyes were fixing her intently, hanging on every word she said and drinking it all in.

"There is something in here." began slowly Mikan, pressing the palm of her hand over his strong chest; she felt his heartbeats, proving her right… "You have neglected it a lot, but it is still working. I really do think that it is the reason why you do have such stormy feelings… However, your heart is the only thing that keeps you from fully falling into the darkness, Loki. You should be conscious of this and be thankful for it. It isn't too late for you to learn how to use it again."

Loki covered her hand by his, stroking distractedly its back with his thumb, while reflecting on her words. He was aware of how right she had been. He had chosen the path of loneliness for a long time by now. But, it was necessary: feelings, sentiments were the biggest obstacles to the path of greatness…

"And how do you suggest me to learn how use it again?" Loki asked her ironically, "Let me tell you, _Little One_ , there are two kinds of people in this world. The ones who…"

"Loki!" cut him coldly Mikan, "I don't give two shits of credit to your theory of power. After all, it is so obvious that you are completely wrong, I would even say that you don't really believe in it yourself! I'll rather tell you what I do think about this! There are the people who do only believe and follow their minds, and believe me Loki, you do not belong to this category. Then comes the people who try to listen to both their minds and their hearts. These are the wisest! Yet, we also can witness people who does only listen to their hearts, never giving thoughts to the consequences of their actions and living lives full of passions.

But you Loki, you do belong to another category. The ones who can't reconcile their reason and their feelings: You have planned Asgard's invasion by the Frost Giants and killed your biological father just to prove yourself worthy enough and that your only father is no one else but Odin. You may have used your cleverness and wit to execute your plans but all of these results of your strong feelings. You are jealous of Thor for clearly being Odin's favorite, which is the reason why you are trying to get rid of him. Yet, it is quite obvious that you do love him too. Isn't it strange that someone as reasonable as you claim to be would try so hard to do something that he, by himself, would try to prevent? You were defeated by the Avengers exactly for the same reason. Your plan was very clever, and even though this wasn't your main goal when you did come to Earth, your lack of convictions is what made you lose the battle!

Loki, as long as you won't be able to listen more to this beating organ of yours, you will be the one to stand in your own way…"

As his eyes hardened, Mikan glared at him, daring him to deny what she had just said.

"The cleverest men are the ones who are able to recognize when they are in the wrong, Loki. This is a quality that you should learn. You are way too stubborn and proud for your own good!" added softly Mikan.

Loki felt Mikan let her hand fall back to her side, taking away that comforting warm in the process. She was telling the truth, he was well aware of it. Yet, his proud nature was inviting him to make her regret all her words. How could he allow such an insignificant creature to tell him a few home truths? Why was he even listening to her? How could it be possible that even in such a state she seemed to be the one to rule in this room? Why did it hurt so much to hear these words from her? _'Because all of what she said is the truth. Your greatest source of pain is your loneliness and she knows it… Of course, she does know!'_

Mikan caressed his cheek with her fingertips, tracing slowly the lines of his face. He let her do as she pleased, never closing his eyes. The Alice could feel that this simple gesture had managed to calm him down…

Loki was right, he wasn't one to be pitied… But, after what Herpo the Foul had told her, it was obvious that Loki had been used all his life without his knowledge. It didn't mean that he was less guilty for his deeds, but it explained why he had turned into the man who was facing her. Asgardians never did give him as much credit as they did to Thor and growing into his brother shadow just worsened the matter, finally learning about his adoption had been the last straw. She was also conscious that Loki was still pretty young, as both an Asgardian and a Frost Giant. If they did an equivalence between their lifespans, he might even turn out to be younger than her. All he wanted to was to impress his fellow Asgardians and prove himself worthy enough.

A part of Mikan knew that if Loki hadn't been under the control of Thanos, there would have been way less deaths counted. Of course, he was cunning man, able of cruelty, but he had also his honor and dignity.

"You are quite unique in our own kind" admitted finally Loki.

"Aren't we all? What a boring world this would have been if we were all similar, don't you think so?" grinned Mikan.

She raised her eyebrows in a curious manner and he smirked at her antics.

"You are too kind for your own good." Loki reproached her, returning her the favor.

"My friends used all to reproach me this…" admitted Mikan, feeling a bit nostalgic. "Yet, do not worry, I won't make it any easier to you, after all there is a difference between being kind and being naïve. I am not someone to be played with." she smirked playfully.

"You should not be too confident _Little One_ …" he warned her.

Mikan tilted her head to the side to have a closer look at him. Loki was a real mystery to her; his versatility would always take her by surprise. Indeed, it just seemed that his feelings followed any kind of logic!

"The Silver-Tongue, the Trickster… You were attributed a lot of names by humans, all of them well earned I suppose... Yet, with my capacity to read people, I think that you have found in me a good match."

Loki only smirked at her, seeming to enjoy a joke only he could understand, much to Mikan's frustration who huffed at him.

"Are we on Asgard?" she chose to ask instead, not really hoping for such a dream to come true.

"Do you really think that I would make such a stupid and reckless mistake, _Little One_?" Loki nearly purred at her.

Mikan scowled.

"If I may recall you, I am a grown woman Loki. So, stop calling me that!"

"I am two heads taller than you and have hundred time your age, _young one_. I think that I'll keep going and call you as it pleases me!" then, more seriously, he added. "We are in the Andromeda Galaxy on an _uninhabited_ planet situated somewhere between Xandar and Morag. Allice had worked a major part of his life in here and he is the one who constructed this habitation."

Mikan paled, for the first time realizing how bad her current situation really was. If they were in the Andromeda Galaxy, it literally meant that they had completely left the Milky Way! She was _2.5 million fucking light-years_ away from Earth!

"You don't do things by half, do you?" she said faintly.

Mikan thought quickly. Was she to escape, the only planet to her reach would be Xandar. Yet she didn't even know where in this system she was, nor had she the ability to teleport from a planet to another. _'Crap! He has me completely at his mercy! At least for one more day or two… I still have to gain back enough energy to be able to fairly face him. Still, I am the one who has the upper hand! He may be in the possession of the three other books, but they are useless to him since I am the only who knows how to decrypt them! He needs me more than I need him! And he is fully aware of it. He wouldn't have bothered to hold me so far away from Earth otherwise.'_

"I have had enough of sleeping. I need to make up for the four days lost! Loki, I'm famished: I want to eat something. Also, since it seems that I am going to spend a meaningful among of time in here, I want to see the construction. So, please make me the pleasure to get out so I can change myself." there was no room for discussion and Loki had the decency to do just as she had required, but not before leading her to the bathroom, so she could clean herself up. He knew better than pushing her too far.

Her body still hurting, Mikan had a hard time before to put the Asgardian dress Loki had materialized for her. Eventually, she managed to do it and exited the room to find him waiting patiently for her. He looked appreciatively at her before to lead the way. Obviously, he liked what he saw.

Silently, they moved across the habitation, which was wider than what Mikan had firstly expected. Through an open door, Mikan observed, impressed, an imposing library which size reminded her the one in the Disney movie _The Beauty and the Beast_. Composed probably of both Allice's and Loki's collections. _'If Allice had let this as a heritage to both of us, then surely there is something in there for the possessors of the Two Alices...'_

"When did you discover it?" asked casually Mikan.

"Four years ago."

The Alice took her time: her muscles were atrophied as she hadn't used them for four days. When Loki showed his intention to lift her, Mikan accelerated her pace as she didn't want to accept his help. Finally, they arrived at the level of the dining room which was more of a great hall which was expensively and luxuriously furnished with four long tables, laid with glittering golden plates and goblets.

Mikan looked in awe at the real starry night sky that she had mistaken for a paintwork. To her amazement, when she stepped in the room, it retracted itself and only a single table for two was left. A subtle scent of vanilla relaxed Mikan. Conscious of Loki's stare, she tried to ignore him. Still, the fact that they were to have a candlelight dinner felt weird, and kind of wrong. Especially after Loki's failed attempt to seduce her earlier.

Loki elegantly moved to pull out the plush chair for her, gracefully moving it as she sat, before taking the place across from her. Mikan smirked at the sight of the golden goblet already filled with red wine.

"I am really impressed by all your efforts Loki. Sadly, I am still not interested by your propositions."

"This place, and in particular this room, is charmed. Even though I would like to, I can't attribute myself its deeds and merits."

"Creating food from nothing goes against the rule of the Universe." pointed out Mikan when the entrée appeared in their plates.

"I don't really think that Allice cared that much about it when he enchanted the place." he replied before to take gracefully a sip of wine.

"What are the books in your possessions?" Mikan asked abruptly, taking Loki by surprise.

" _The Theory of the Seven Universes_ , _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_ and _The History of the Nine Realms_ , which contains an annotated copy of _The Book of Cagliostro_." he said, laying his utensils down. Loki leaned slightly toward her over the table. Because of his tall features, their faces were nearly touching. Hazel met burning icy green. Mikan resisted the urge to turn her eyes away. "You are willing to ask me some lots of question tonight, which I do perfectly understand since I am the one who brought you here in the first place. _Yet_ , you are unwilling to reciprocate the commitment which seems quite an unfair situation to me."

Mikan cocked her head to the side, a mannerism she had the bad habitude to adopt when she was curious or uncomfortable, only to realize that it only brought her face even more closer to his, if possible, than they already were. She couldn't shy away: she had to seem strong. _'No. I don't have to pretend, I am strong!'_

"Do you really think so? To me it rather seems to be the opposite. Isn't holding me in here against my will enough of a compromise? Furthermore, I doubt that you are ever to release me, even if I do accept to cooperate. It seems obvious that apart from you I am the only other being alive who knows about this place. And, I do not have to remind you why I can't take your words on that!"

"Why don't you rather consider yourself my guest? If you accept to cooperate and even if you don't, you will be as free as you want to wander in the house or use the library as it pleases you. The only thing that could change is that I will bring you back to Midgard once we are finished, if you do accept to cooperate. And as tempting as this does sound, I will never try to handcuff you. Furthermore, you do not have to fear from me any kind of violence, and…" Loki posed before to carefully chose his next words: "Of course, I will never try to force myself on you."

Mikan tensed and looked at him with wide eyes, her face drained of all its color because of the clear allusion of her previous assaults.

"You were only a child. You don't have to blame yourself for it."

"I do not. I couldn't have prevented it, I am just grateful that I only do remember one of them…" whispered faintly Mikan, not really speaking to him.

Loki couldn't help but clench his fists, disgusted by the wickedness of such beings.

"Still, I don't see what in you promising me to not hurt or rape me would change to my current situation! As for the first promise you made, I don't believe you. I still have in mind how our previous encounter had ended." reminded him Mikan, changing the subject.

Loki had the decency to look ashamed. His eyes darkened, and he backed away.

"I usually do have more self-control… and I admit that I have to apologize for hurting you last time."

He sounded sincere and his feelings weren't in contradiction with his words, so Mikan chose to accept his apologizes, even though she knew better than to tell him. Instead, she took a sip of wine. As it always did, it turned into water into her mouth. Mikan sighed.

"If what you said earlier was true, then Thanos remaining option to conquer both the Universe and the Infinity Stones is to get the support of Death herself." announced Loki.

Taken aback by the sudden change of the subject, Mikan reflected on what he had just told her.

"The Cosmic Entities composed of Death, Entropy, Infinity and Eternity are responsible for the creation of the Infinity Stones. While Entropy's purpose is destruction, his father, Eternity's goal is creation. Together they keep the cycles of creation and destruction in balance. Eternity is the timeless representation of the Universe while his sister, Infinity represents all space in the Universe. Both brother and sister are in competition with Death who attempts to reduce life while they expand life. Then comes Death, who embodies decay and can possess the soul of a living being. She can manipulate reality, time, and space, and came to existence at the same time as the three others, which means at the dawn of time. Immortals are immune to her ability… A Midgardian legend says that Thanos wanted to rule the Universe with her and that he has fallen for her. In an attempt to impress her, he killed all life in half of the Universe with the snap of his fingers." thought aloud the Alice.

"I see that you have done serious research on the matter." stated Loki, nodding at her. Even though he didn't make a show of it, Mikan knew that she had inwardly impressed him.

"It is surprising what we can find in books, Loki, you surely do know that better than I do. But, Thanos and Death… How appalling this does sound!" she sighed. And suddenly an idea came up to her mind!

It was her turn to lean over the table, a mysterious smile playing on her lips: "Loki, tonight I think that I am going to give you a unique chance to prove yourself to me! If you achieve to convince me that there is a real threat of such a thing to happen, I may accept to help you. Be careful, take your time and think well, Loki. You better do not fail to this, because this will your one and last try."

A wave of triumph build itself inside Loki. This was going to be easy as child play! In fact, he wouldn't even need to open his mouth. The _Little One_ had just offered him a golden opportunity!

Loki stood gracefully from his chair and rounded the table, so he would come to her level. He extended a hand, inviting her silently to take it. Mikan silently an eyebrow, curious, but did as he asked her anyway. Elegantly, the Alice rose up and stood by his side, hands in hands. Loki surprised her by drawing her closer to him, placing his arm around her waist.

"I am not going to speak tonight, my dear. Sometimes words don't suffice and need a little illustration. I will show you the reality of this threat by itself."

It didn't take long to Mikan to compute the meaning of his words. She drew a sharp breath before to nod silently, colorless, trying to master the fear that was building inside her.

Suddenly, everything around her was vanishing, the romantic and warm décor of the dining room slipping away...

* * *

They appeared in a huge dark room, dark because of the nonexistence lighting and of the tainted auras surrounding her. Loki and Mikan were facing a group of aliens: guards, a woman with a green skin, another with a blue one that looked like a robot, a black man with metallic hair and finally one man with a blue and dark skin, who was undeniably the chef of the group.

Loki's magic allowed them to remain invisible, but Loki placed nonetheless one hand over Mikan's mouth and with one finger he told her to not make a sound. She rolled her eyes and activated both the Barrier and Silencing Alices.

"There is no need for that, Loki, I made sure that they won't hear us."

"Then watch the show."

"Where did you take me? Who are these people?"

"You see sweetheart, I am not the only one Thanos asked to retrieve him an Infinity Stone. The one with the hammer is called Ronan the Accuser, he is a Kree fanatic whose goal is to cure Xandar from its population." explained Loki. "Theses two women, Gamora and Nebula, are Thanos adoptive daughters." he posed at Mikan's strangled noise of disgust and horror. "I have to admit that there are better options as a parent choice… But enough of speaking _Little One_ , watch and learn."

Mikan did just as he said, but not before glaring at him darkly.

 _"…Master, he is a thief, an outlaw who calls himself Star-Lord. But we have discovered he has an agreement to retrieve the Orb for an intermediary known as The Broker" the man with metallic hair stated, frustrated by his own failure._

 _"I promised Thanos I would retrieve the Orb for him. Only then will he destroy Xandar for me." the so-called Ronan the Accuser stood up from his throne like chair. "Nebula, go to Xandar and get me the Orb." he ordered to the robot woman. She advanced toward him confidently._

 _"It will be my honor."_

 _"It will be your doom." affirmed the woman with the green skin color. "If this happens again, you'll be facing our father without his prize." she warned her._

 _"I'm a daughter of Thanos. Just like you." retorqued Nebula in a defensive tone, disdain ringing in her voice._

 _"But I know Xandar."_

 _"Ronan has already decreed that I…"_

 _"Do not speak for me." Ronan cut her coolly. He turned is attention to the woman called Gamora. "You will not fail."  
_

 _"Have I ever?"_

Mikan had watched enough and showed it to Loki who materialized them back in the dining room.

"This Ronan is both dangerous and ignorant! It is a chance I think. Anyone well informed knows that the Orb contains the Power Stone! Thanos played him well!" scoffed haughtily Mikan, once comfortably seated on the plush chair.

"Was it enough of a proof or are you still not convinced enough, darling?"

"Well… I think that it would only depends on the terms of the agreement we might come to." suggested Mikan, feeling confident. She may be his prisoners but, technically, Loki needed her more than she needed him. "I am listening to your propositions. If they are reasonable, I might just add some conditions and the deal will be settled. If not don't worry about me. I will find one way or another to get away from here. Because, you see Loki, no prison is unbreakable."

Loki smiled mysteriously at the end of her sentence but made no comment about it.

"It is fine with me. We may begin discussing affair then."

Mikan nodded, encouraging him to pursue.

"I ask from you to share with me your knowledge about Allice' works. You will translate me the four books in our possession, even though I am sure that you have already done this with Flamel's diary. In exchange, I will help you chase after the Stones and put them in more secure places, which will only be known by the two of us. You have my word that I won't try to use them to any ill intent. Furthermore, you will be allowed to go to Midgard once a month accompanied by me, of course. Finally, at the end of our agreement, you will be released."

The Alice cocked an eyebrow.

"Loki, you are 'The god of Lies and Mischief' all is in the title. As for your reputation it speaks for itself! What can ensure me that you'll fulfill honestly our accord? Just as I have told you at our previous encounter, I can not possibly afford the mistake of being manipulated or betrayed by you."

"There is still the Soul Bonding, but I doubt that any of us wants to do it… However, the Asgardian custom to cement vows and contracts is to exchange blood. It is a kind of Unbreakable Vow if we do the comparison to the Wizarding Society. If one of us break the vow, he will dye. Of course, we will still be bounded, but it will be less inconvenient for both of us."

Once again, Mikan nodded absentmindedly trying to find any more attractive options. Of course, she couldn't think of any.

"Alright then. It is fine with me… well I suppose it is. It is my turn to give you my conditions. Firstly, I will be the one who will write the contract. I don't want to have any bad surprises after signing it. Secondly, to set up a proper deal I want us to sign it in front of a witness. I have three propositions even though I think that I already have a preference for the last one. Heimdall seems to be a good choice. The Ancient One, the current Sorcerer Supreme, is aware of my quest and may agree to do it even though she will be a bit reluctant to trust me to you. Finally, I think that Luna Lovegood, a witch, may also agree to do it for us. We will discuss about it.

And, if we are to live together in here, I will expect of you to respect my intimacy and all the civility rules, of course. Furthermore, I want to be informed of all your whereabouts, were you to go somewhere without taking me alongside with you. Finally, I want you to teach me Asgardian Magic."

Loki and Mikan eyed each other, wordlessly arguing. Finally, he raised his full of wine goblet.

"To this new alliance." Loki smirked.

Mikan smiled, hoping that she wouldn't have any regrets, and raised her goblet to the same level of his. They toasted together to this new partnership, to a new adventure, and, unknown to them, to even more.

 **AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA**

 **A.N:**

 **So here we are X)**

 **I really hope that you have enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Mikan and Loki relationship has already taken a big turn!**

 **Please review and tell me what you think of this new chapter ! ^^**


	8. Of Blackmail and Trust

**Here is the eitgh chapter. I really want to apologize for the delay. I have been through a lots of complications lately, and then came the Midterm period exams!  
**

 **I wanted to thank Siatru, Gawriter, nutsovertseas and Harmony for reviewing last time. "It did put a smile on my face!" #Thanos.**

 **CrazyManhwaGirl , ****GAwriter , ****HarumiMisaki , ****Poosa-ard , ****SIMON80420 , ****Siatru , ****SupergodzillaSailorCosmos , ****chivini , ****,** **nutsovertseas , ****Lunar Wave and ****theflowerblooms for favoriting/following my story.  
**

 **Big thanks to Darsidefan5, Singing Tranquility and Lunar Wave for beat-reading my story. ^^**

 **I began a collection of Funko Pops ^^ Luna with her lion hat, the first of Harry Potter, the Ancient One, Mordo, Heimdall and Loki from Ragnarok!**

 **And I also gave myself the time to go and watch Infinity War! Amazing, even though I want you to know that Loki will have a better future in my story :)**

 **Please review and tell me what you think about it!**

 ** **Disclaimer: I do not own neither Gakuen Alice, which belongs to Tachibana Higuchi, nor Avengers, which belongs to Marvel and even less Harry Potter, which is the work of the wonderful J.K.R :) But I do own the plot and my OC characters of course.****

 **Chapter 8: Of Blackmail and Trust:**

"This is a really bad idea! Such a freaking bad idea… Hotaru you can't be possibly serious, right?" asked Luca, defeated. "Blackmailing S.H.I.E.L.D? Seriously?!"

"Don't you think it's too late to ask me this, Luca?" responded Hotaru in a detached tone while landing her private jet on the deck of the Helicarrier.

"These are people who can kill us within a blink of an eye… Your plan better work! I can't believe it! If it weren't for my conscience, I would never have come here with you..." he kept muttering darkly to himself.

Hotaru made a show of rolling her eyes before exiting the jet. Luca quickly followed her lead, and they made their way to the group who was waiting for them.

Waiting for them on the Helicarrier's deck was Fury, looking quite impressive in his dark leather clothes and eyepatch; Harry Potter, wand in hand; Natasha Romanoff, weapons close at hand, her Black Widow's Bite activated; Thor, whose hammer had sparks of lightning; Bruce Banner, ready to Hulk-out if needed; Tony Stark, in his armor and Steve Rogers, in his Captain America suit.

' _Great! Nearly all the Avengers are here, ready to kick the hell out of our asses! Really, what wouldn't I do for this crazy woman? A wizard, a kick-ass spy, Iron Man, the Hulk… Can't we stay away from the weird stuff for once?! Am I really asking for too much?_ '

"So, kids, what brings you here?" asked Tony Stark, earning a burning glare from the blond guy in front of him, who seemed to be in a foul mood. Hotaru just smirked at him.

"I'll be straight with you, S.H.I.E.L.D. Luca Nogi and myself, came here to represent the Alice Community. You see, one week ago, the Academy's informatic system had been hacked by your services." Hotaru arched a disdainful eyebrow. "Whoever of your agents did the job, he did it poorly..." she ignored the redhead spy annoyed expression. "It was easy as child play to trace all your researches and hack your own system back. We had and still have access to all of your entire database. This fact had led to many discoveries and, of course, some rather unpleasant ones. We are now aware that Mikan Sakura Yukihira, an Alice user the Academy long believed to be dead, had been into your detention, destroyed two of your well-guarded artefacts and helped Loki Laufeyson to escape from your grasp.

To sum up, you don't have many options left Fury. Either we cooperate in apprehending Mikan Sakura alongside to Loki and, only then, the Alice Academy will accept to forget your illegal use of two of our children, which leaded to the death of the late Natsume Hyûga. Or, we will take care of this by ourselves and you will regret it since the ball is clearly in our court. Mikan Sakura is an Alice, which means that the ones who are the most likely to arrest or stop her are Alices too. Take it or leave it."

Luca looked exasperatedly at his friend who didn't seem to even have the grace to pretend to care and Fury was furious, no pun intended (…well… maybe) … if not fuming in anger. These Alices were seriously getting on his nerves and being threatened so openly by a 23-year-old woman didn't please him at the very least… Both the Wizarding and the Alice Communities were driving him nuts by interfering with his business as they pleased, putting endless obstacles into his way…

"Did you come all that way long just to threaten us, Imai?" asked coolly Fury.

"Of course not, we came here because we were sure that you are going to accept our "offer". Let me tell you this again: you didn't do yourself a favor by trying to put your dirty nose in the Alice Academy business the way you did. If you wanted so much to know more about us, you could have come directly to us and asked. Sadly, for you, you didn't." Hotaru's voice was now cold and cunning. "What we did was just a little payback justified since you attacked first…"

She pulled out a pad from her purse. Fury paled, so livid with anger that he almost couldn't speak. To his extreme annoyance, Tony whistled, smirking at the young woman in front of them, clearly enjoying what he was seeing. Harry wasn't hiding his smugness either.

"… T'Chaka… king of Wakanda and father of the Black Panther, T'Challa. How do you think he will he react when he discovers that you have bought some of the Vibranium that have been stolen from Wakanda by Ulysses Klaue? Or better, that you were actually aware that he was to try to do such a thing, firstly? Not very well wouldn't he?

Now here is the Prime Minister of Japan. Of course, there is no need for me to remind you that the Alice Academy has more influence over our country than S.H.I.E.L.D does. However, its financial support is primordial to you, but not for too long I fear: our country doesn't like the illegal use of Alices and especially hypocrisy. Funny isn't? How an organization built to protect the word would, without a second thought, use innocent children to do their dirty work instead of freeing them as anyone with a sense of justice would have done? Furthermore, since the Prime Minister and the Emperor owe me a colossal debt, they both won't hesitate to support me. This also goes without saying that many of the funders of your organization would withdraw all their funding, were I to ask them to do so. As their main client or producer, my company has, without a real contest, a way bigger influence on them."

The Blackmail Queen kept a poker face, even though Luca knew that she was satisfied to almost see the smoke rise from Fury's head. She pursued, cutting him in his attempt to speak.

"Shall we exclude the USA? I wonder how badly they would react to you lying to them more than once, just like by pretending to have killed the threat that represents Mikan Sakura Yukihira for example. Let apart the countless secret weapons of mass destruction that S.H.I.E.L.D has been creating for more than one month by now. What is it called already? Oh, yes, I do remember now! The Project Insight, which has the potential to kill more than 20 million people nonetheless. You know what? Screw it! I have a better idea, what about informing the public of all your dirty little secrets: just like how many soldiers you have, the location of all your bases, all the assassinations you have been behind, all the secrets that will have all the governments and the public cutting off your head?" purred Hotaru, her violet eyes colder and sharper than ever. "I do have still have a countless list of examples of questionable thing that you could be accused of, but I think that those are already convincing enough. We didn't come here to play Fury, and trust me, you don't want us to. Either you agree, and we will all be satisfied at the end of this. Or the consequences won't please you."

Luca placed himself beside Hotaru, daring anyone to try to hurt her.

He cautiously observed the crowd. Steve Rogers had his hands curled into tight fists, and Luca wasn't really sure about who he was really angry at, Thor didn't really seemed to be interested by the exchange, Natasha Romanoff seemed ready to shoot them whenever she would be ordered to, Tony Stark had gleaming sparkles of respect and amusement glowing in his eyes, Bruce Banner seemed slightly impressed, rather curious on what the situation would potentially lead to, a small smirk was showing up on Harry Potter's lips as all kinds of expressions were passing on Fury's face, from anger to confusion, then frustration and finally resignation.

"We didn't come here to fight you, all we want is to understand what is going on and to help you prevent it. We have the knowledge to help you that way. Accept our offer, and everything will be going for the best for us all." Luca tried to negotiate in a more diplomatic way.

Fury, frowning, quickly considered all the options and came to the same conclusion as everyone did. They couldn't ignore the real threat nor get rid of it. Someone with a spirit as cunning as Hotaru's had certainly a backup plan.

The latter smirked.

"You are right," she affirmed, just as she had read his thoughts, which she most definitely did, using one of her inventions that enabled her to do so. "If I were you, I wouldn't let my soldiers to even put a foot on the front door of my house, as soon as they do, the files will be automatically sent to all the people I have talked you about. If you don't order them to stop right now, you will be the only one to blame for what is going to follow. Don't you even hope that killing us will solve your problems Fury, we both know that I am smarter than that!"

"Don't try to enter Imai's house, your mission is over." Fury ordered through his wireless headset. Luca tensed while Hotaru's smirk only grew wider. "… I accept your offer." grimaced Fury. "Come along."

Seeing Momma Fury being put in his right place did put a delighted smile on Harry's and Tony's faces. They had to admit that it felt rather good!

Tony shot a cheeky smile to the two youngsters, completely ignoring the glares Fury was sending him: "Then, all I have to say, children, is welcome to our big family!" He chuckled amusedly : "And let's go back to kick Reindeer Games' ass once again! Isn't it great!?"

"What kind of superpowers do you possess then?" asked Steve.

"I possess the Animal Pheromones Alice and Hotaru the Invention one." replied Luca.

"Animal Pheromones?" snickered Tony, "What kind of superpower is that?"

As a flock of birds kept harassing him the whole way to the conference room, Tony Stark had the time to meditate about it.

* * *

When she woke up the next morning, Mikan headed straight to the bathroom and took her time to properly wash herself up. After all these five days, she hadn't really had the opportunity to do so, nor had she been in the state to properly clean herself. Indeed, a good shower was really welcomed!

Once she was finished, Mikan felt herself revived. It was now certain that by the end of the day, she would have completely recovered from the effects of the Corrosion Alice.

The young woman looked at her reflection in the mirror, smirking slightly. She may have agreed to cooperate with Loki, but she still didn't trust him and wanted things to go her way. After all, she wanted him to know clearly that in no ways she was to accept being his prisoner. Indeed, if they were to cooperate, Mikan wanted it to be the consequences of her own will, but mainly, she wanted them to work as equals.

Feeling satisfied, Mikan traded her Asgardian dress for more casual clothes and headed to the enormous library, where her little finger told her she was sure to find Loki.

She had made a good guess: The Trickster was there, indeed.

"Good morning." he greeted her without raising his head from the book that was occupying his attention.

"Morning."

Mikan stopped to his level and looked briefly at the books that he was studying before to look around her amazed by the imposing size of the library. Its numerous bookshelves contained books coming from every places in the Universe. Yet, it seemed that it wasn't the only treasure kept in it: its center was occupied by an enormous round table encircling a Sakura Tree.

As the Alice stepped closer, she realized that the tree trunk was engraved: _'Life, Death, and Renewal'_. Mikan didn't realize that she had stopped breathing. In a nearly religious manner, she posed her hand on the wood of the tree trunk and was surprised by the strong spiritual energy that was running inside it. She closed her eyes.

"This tree is the center of the spiritual energy running inside this mansion." Loki explained, who was now standing by her side. "Its concept is inspired by Yggdrasil's properties."

Mikan smiled. Her hand still caressing carefully the trunk of the Sakura Tree.

"How many fragments of the Soul Stone do you have inside you? I believe that you possess at least three of them." Loki suddenly enquired.

"I have four of them inside my body, Loki. Two of them linked themselves to my own soul right before my birth. As for the two others, you already know how I've made their acquisition."

Loki arched a curious eyebrow but remained silent. Mikan had accepted to cooperate, which meant that he had all the time he wanted to ask her later the significance of the first part of her sentence.

"Think of any book you want to read." he told her.

The palm of her hand still pressed against the wood of the tree Mikan looked at Loki puzzled. He only nodded at her in an encouraging motion. She did as he said. When she looked down at the table, a copy of the novel Pride and Prejudice was laying on it. Mikan smirked.

"I suppose that the only exceptions were the four books which are thankfully already in our possession."

"It is a right assumption. I guess that it would have been too easy otherwise." Loki confirmed. "Have you made your choice?" he asked, changing completely the subject of the discussion.

"Yes, but I would like you to show me the three other books as a proof of your 'honesty', if we can say so…"

Loki bowed slightly his head, a small smirk playing on his lips, before to point at the three new appeared books laying on the round table. She took them carefully in her hands and flipped through the pages. Satisfied, she handed them back to him.

"You have already tricked Heimdall in the past and choosing Luna Lovegood means facing higher chances to have to confront S.H.I.E.L.D, which would be a useless waste of time. The Ancient One is a perspicacious person, whom you don't know that much about her Art of Magic. I want us to cut the magical deal in front of her."

"I am afraid that it is a wise and clever choice. I see that you have given it a lot of reflections." he stated.

"Take it as a compliment. You have built yourself quite a reputation Silver-Tongue and I really would prefer to not be part of the long list of the people that you have tricked." Mikan smirked. The Trickster send her a challenging smile, taking the bet.

Loki extended a hand, inviting her to take it. Hands in hands, they materialized themselves inside Kamar-Taj.

* * *

"I present you Hotaru Imai and Luca Nogi. They are here to represent the Alice Community. Working with them will allow us to be in the best conditions to apprehend Mikan Sakura and Loki." Fury reluctantly introduced the pair to the rest of the Avengers team which included Clint Barton, Luna Lovegood and the recently added member Jane Foster. They nodded curtly at each other.

Everyone took a seat around the table.

Luca observed carefully each member of the Avengers team to realize that Natasha Romanoff was eyeing him curiously, in a predatory way. Luca held her gaze. This woman was cunning. ' _The Black Widow..._ ' Luca smirked. ' _Women are more dangerous than men… They are clearly underestimated, and they know how to obtain benefits from this significant advantage. Hotaru, The Icy Blackmail Queen, and the Black Widow are only too good examples of this common mistake…_ ' Hearing the sound of Hawkeye's voice, both diverted their attention from each other.

"I think that we missed the part where you explained to us how we can be sure that you are not supporting Mikan Sakura and Loki," pointed out Hawkeye.

"Then I have to remind you that Mikan has lost all contacts with the Alice Community for at least 8 years, Clint," Luna replied politely.

"Don't forget that Luna has used Legilimency on Mikan Sakura." Harry reminded him. "If they were supporting her, she would have already stated it. In fact, even if they were I don't see how this would be a problem: Mikan Sakura is far from being a criminal. She has only destroyed artefacts that should have been taken care of long time ago. You should be happy that S.H.I.E.L.D is not paying retributions for keeping an Horcrux to themselves." Harry added, now looking firmly at Fury.

"Finally, she hasn't freed Loki, but rather was kidnapped by him. Which means that he found in her something that picked his interest. She doesn't look like a threat to me and even if she was, you'll be greatly responsible for it." huffed the wizard, still remembering how badly his first encounter with Loki had ended. ' _Thankfully, the Avengers team members have some common senses in comparison to this asshole!_ '

If stares could kill, Harry would have died long ago…

"I agree with our Wizard Friend. Heimdall told me that something or someone has deflected Lady Sakura's destination. She initially planned to teleport in a place named Kamar-Taj. My brother wasn't involved in this action, even though he took perfectly advantage of this 'incident'." added Thor.

Fury frowned at this. He took a long, deep breath before continuing.

"Heimdall also mentioned that Lady Sakura has four fragments of the Soul Stone inside her body. It is obvious that Loki guessed as much. What we have no idea about, is what he intends to do with her. They are not on Midgard anymore, so either Loki plans to hand her to Thanos to make up for his failure in bringing him the Tesseract, or he will try to use her for a purpose that is still unknown to us, even though we have a little inkling..." Thor paused, abashed by his brother's deeds. "… Though, I have to warn you: Loki used Lady Sakura's vital and spiritual energy to escape from his cell. She may be strong but the quantity of energy he ripped from her body was enormous and, if we go by the video tapes, with the state she was in, she may have not survived it."

Jane laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, pained to see her lover so abashed. They exchanged a brief look and Thor squeezed her hand gently.

"Well, by now we know Loki enough to be sure that he wouldn't have taken Mikan Sakura's body with him if he wasn't sure that she was to survive. I clearly doubt that a dead body will be useful to him." interjected Tony.

"This girl, even though she has only fragments of it, is a walking Infinity Stone. I agree with Tony, I clearly doubt that it was enough to kill her." added Bruce Banner. "Thor, did Heimdall know how in the hell they came into her possession?"

Hotaru and Luca unwittingly held their breaths. They were to discover more about their former friend in one evening than they ever thought possible.

Thor shrugged. "She is born with two of them. Do not ask me how, I have no idea about how that is even possible! As for the two others, she made their acquisition after we brought her in the Helicarrier. The first night, she went inside Loki's confinement capsule after realizing that he was under the control of a strong spiritual energy…" Thor frowned. "… I have no idea of who this girl is, and Loki might have been just as shocked as I was when she did it: Heimdall told me that she extracted the spiritual essence of the Mind and Soul Stones that were influencing his behavior, from his body. In one hand she got rid of a potential threat, but on another, Heimdall thinks that Thanos might have sensed the connection shatter…"

"Mikan Sakura has the Stealing Alice, which is accompanied by the Inserting one. This is certainly what allowed her to do that." Luca suggested.

Luna nodded at him confirming his theory.

"I've promised her not to tell you much about her secrets and Mikan has very justified reasons to keep them to herself, but you have to be aware of this: The Alices Stones were created by an Asgardian Sorcerer who had the Soul Stone in possession. This fact is what has linked Loki and Mikan together."

"I think that you may be talking about Allice, Lady Lovegood."

Hotaru arched an eyebrow. No document related of the apparition of the Alices Stones. They were treading on uncharted waters.

"There is no history of the Alices Stones' creation. All we know is that the first one that has been spotted outside Japan was Lewis Carroll, the writer of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." admitted Hotaru. "But it just seems that Mikan Sakura has found out more about this subject."

Luca nodded before to go further into Hotaru's explanation.

"Before to come here we have checked Mikan Sakura's adoptive grandfather's house. It is now for sure that she doesn't work for any superior authority, let alone Loki, we have no idea if she had been in contact with him before." Luca posed, frowning slightly.

"She has not. Mikan met him first when she was brought to the Helicarrier." said Luna, Thor nodded, agreeing with the small witch. Luca looked at her surprised, realizing that this silvery-eyed woman was calling his former childhood friend only by her first name. His surprise grew when she smiled gently at him, just as if she knew what he had been thinking about. Shaking this weird feeling off, Luca continued.

"Well… It is obvious that she no longer lives in this house. However, even though she had been very cautious, we have been able to find these, thanks to the Nullification and Stealing Alices Stones that are in our possessions." said Luca.

Hotaru pulled out a small device from her bag and activated it. Instantly, numerous projections of pictures, notes, drawings and ancient artefacts appeared in the air. All colors disappeared from Thor's face.

"If this is only a glimpse of what Lady Sakura knows about the Nine Realms, then I fear that with her by his sides, my Brother will easily make his way to at least half of the Infinity Stones! She has both advantages of power and knowledge."

"The Time and Mind Stones are on Earth, this means that by some point they will eventually come looking for them." declared Fury.

"Speaking of which, we have to remove them from Earth. Thanos won't be stopped by Loki's failure. He will certainly come to look for them by himself or send someone to retrieve them for him." assured Thor. "I will put the Gems in safety and don't expect me to wait for my Brother to come back to Midgard. Fury, I will go and look for him myself, even if it means that I have to move Valhalla and Hel to find Loki and Lady Sakura!"

"The Time Stone is kept in Kamar-Taj while the Mind Stone is guarded by S.H.I.E.L.D. If this is what they want, Loki and Mikan will definitely try to gather the Time Stone before to come for the Mind one. We should use it as a bait." proposed Hotaru.

Natasha eyed her appreciatively before to nod her head sharply in agreement.

"I like the idea. And while they will try to find the Time Stone, we will remove the Mind Stone from Earth. After all, Loki is not the only enemy we might have to deal with."

"Thor? Is it possible for you to find a less predictable place than Asgard?" asked gently Jane. "It seems to me that keeping both the Mind and Space Stones in there would be rather risky. Loki knows this environment very well and if Thanos is as powerful as you think he is, he might try to invade Asgard."

The Asgardian's eyes warmed at his beloved, and he nodded gently.

"I think that I know someone who will be able to protect the Mind Stone: The Collector, Taneleer Tivan."

"Alright, then it is settled." nodded Hotaru. "However, I was wondering if there is a way Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood could show us their memories of their encounter with Mikan Sakura. It seems rather important to me, especially since it would give us, Alices users, an insight of her abilities."

Harry nodded quietly, before conjuring a Pensieve. Turn by turn, he showed the team his memories of the events as he had witnessed them.

Hotaru and Luca exchanged an alarmed look.

"No one has ever possessed as much Alices as Mikan Sakura does right now. The Teleportation, Mind Reading, Telepathy, Barrier, Evil Spirit Manipulation, Space Distortion, Illusion, and so on. And she also seems to master some kind of magic…"

"It is called the Mystic Arts, which are taught in Kamar-Taj."

"This change completely everything; Kamar-Taj is Mikan Sakura's ally!" whispered Jane.

"Wait! We still have no idea in which side she is." interjected Luca.

"Well, we can't risk anything because of indecision." snapped Fury.

"What about the fact that she went in Loki's cell twice following her own will?" Clint was very keen to remind.

"Hey girls, calm down! I have a plan…" smirked Tony.

* * *

In the courtyard, students of Kamar-Taj were training hard, performing various spells, following the orders and the advices shouted by Karl Mordo. The man with dark skin and black hair was teaching his disciples how to perfect their movements in order to draw a perfect Tao Mandalas.

Meanwhile, Stephen Vincent Strange, watching them from afar, stood aside wearing proudly his new acquired Cloak of Levitation, the Eye of Agamotto close to his chest. Right beside him, the Ancient One, her tall figure covered by her golden robes, was whispering something to him, looking distractedly from times to times at the training area. She stopped right in the middle of her sentence when she sensed Mikan's spiritual energy appear in the sanctuary of Kamar-Taj and tensed as she realized that her protégée wasn't alone. She recognized the foreign spiritual energy as Loki Laufeyson's, since she had been observing him during his attempt to conquer the Earth.

The Ancient One frowned, for once undecided, before deciding that her future talk with Mikan needed some privacy. With a little smirk she waved her hands in a fluent and complicated motions, sending the fallen Asgardian Prince through a portal.

"Hamir, please replace Mordo." The students, Stephen and Mordo stopped dead in their tracks, perplexed by the Sorcerer Supreme's sudden command. "Continue your training." she told the puzzled students to. The Ancient One turned toward her two other protégés: "Mordo, Stephen, come with me."

The two men shared a look before to follow their master down the long hallway that was leading to her chambers. When they reached the imposing wooden-carved double door, Mordo and Stephen fidgeted, surprised to sense Mikan's spiritual energy.

The Ancient One opened the door. Mikan was indeed standing in the center of the Sorcerer Supreme's meditation room, a smug smile on her face.

"I am happy to see you again my friends!" Mikan turned toward the Ancient One, flashing her a bright smile. "You should have seen his face when you send him through the portal!" she giggled. "It was priceless! Thank you!"

The young Alice advanced toward the group and hugged each one of them happily.

"I was starting to get worried about you, Mikan." admitted Mordo. "You did not contact us for more than two weeks, when you clearly stated that it wouldn't take you more than one to get it done!" he claimed reproachfully.

Mikan looked at him guiltily, "I am so sorry Mordo! I didn't mean to make you worry about me, but I have encountered some complications…" she started hesitantly, not very chilled to explain to Stephen and Mordo why she had brought with her in Kamar-Taj none other but the god who had tried to take over the Earth one month ago.

"I don't like it when you make this face Mikan! That only means problems," stated Stephen, "What the hell have you done that you are not so very keen to tell us about?" he asked, preparing himself for the worst.

"Well about one week ago, I was kidnapped by Loki Laufeyson and now I have to associate myself with him, so I can avoid Thanos gaining the possession of all the Infinity Stones!" Mikan blurted out nervously, not daring to look at her three friends in the eyes.

Silence fell in the room. The Ancient One unfaced by Mikan's confession, while Mordo and Stephen were totally petrified, hardly computing the amount of nonsense that Mikan had accumulated in just one sentence, while the latter prepared herself for the storm that was coming.

"Loki? Loki Laufeyson?! As in the Asgardian bastard who is responsible of the attacks on Stuttgart and New-York? The one because of whom thousands of people died? The Asgardian god of _Lies and Mischief_ who tried to conquer the Earth and retrieve the Tesseract?!" yelled Stephen.

Mikan opened her mouth, before to close it and open it once again… "Yess…" she grimaced, not too pleased about it either.

Mordo crossed his arms in a patronizing manner, looking at her disapprovingly.

"Mikan, I trusted you to not do anything stupid! I am really disappointed in you. I can't believe that you are seriously considering associating yourself with this mass murderer." scolded her Mordo, shaking his head. Suddenly, processing the debut of her sentence, he turned around her worriedly. "He didn't harm you, did he?" Mordo asked with a dark voice.

"No." reassured him Mikan. "He didn't. In fact, he had to do exactly the opposite actually." frowned the Alice. "He had to heal me. The state I was in when I landed in his cell and that he had just worsened when he extracted my energy to materialize us in none other but the Andromeda Galaxy, quite obliged him to do so…" Mikan was glad to omit the part in where she had only gained consciousness the day before.

The young woman suddenly realized that the Ancient One had remained silent the whole time. She studied her features and was surprised to find the shadow of a guilt in them. Mikan raised her eyebrows in surprise when she understood why her dear master and friend was feeling this way.

"I had drawn a portal that would have sent me back in Kamar-Taj! You are the one who chose to send me into his cell!? Why?!"

"You are the one behind this?!" Stephen and Mordo choked out.

The Ancient One was now calmly facing her three puzzled disciples. She nodded curtly, advancing toward Mikan, stopping only when she was close enough to place her reassuring hands on the Alice shoulders.

"Mikan, you know that I never see your future, only its multiple possibilities. However, my dear friend, even though yours is very uncertain, Loki's presence in it is the only thing that may allow it to become stable. You both have the same beginning and are more similar than you imagine. He is only a darker version of yourself. There are just as much probability of you two becoming great allies, just as great enemies. It all depends on the paths that you two will choose to take. I said choose Mikan, because you will always have a choice.

But you have to know this, my friend: only Loki, alongside to Stephen and a Wizard like the two you have encountered one week ago, can help you to master your chaotic powers.

Mikan, many of your futures leaded to you freeing him and then asking me to help you ensure his loyalty toward the arrangement you both surely already came to. Yet, in none of them you did it intentionally. You are too reasonable to risk freeing him, so I do not regret taking this decision. After all, Loki needs you way too much to risk hurting you once again."

"Wait! Hold on for a second! What do you mean by 'once again'?" interrupted her Stephen, with an angry voice.

Mikan shrugged embarrassed by the situation. Why did she have to go through this?

"I might have visited him in his cell the first night I came to S.H.I.E.L.D to extract from his body the essence of the Soul and Mind Stones that allowed Thanos to influence his actions," Mikan began cautiously, Mordo and Stephen could get angry too easily sometimes. "Later that day, I realized that this meant that Thanos had already been in the possession of two of the Gems and since he sent Loki to retrieve him the Tesseract, this only means that he surely intend to collect them all… So, I paid him a second visit, which didn't end up that well for me…"

Stephen and Mordo were looking at her with both exasperation and frustration written all over their faces.

"Mikan do you realize how dangerous this action was for you to commit!"

"And not only you did it once, but you immediately ran to his cell a second time? How careless can you be sometimes?!"

Mikan sighed. To be honest, she had nothing to say in her defense.

"If I understood correctly what you were saying, Master, you are intending to follow her in this nonsense and entrust Mikan to this criminal. Master, you can't be possibly serious, right?! You can't possibly let Mikan deal with the devil himself! What part in 'Lies and Mischief' don't you both get?" Mordo exploded.

"I agree with Mordo. We can't trust Mikan to the man who is responsible for all the shit that is happening!"

"Mordo! Stephen! Please stop talking about me as if I'm not here! I have already made my decision and I am laying my trust in The Ancient One, not Loki. Which is the reason why I would like you, old friend, to be our witness so we can cut the magical deal fairly. Now please let me explain myself to you." Mikan begged, waiting for her two friends to calm down, giving them a sympathetic look. "Please listen to me… I know that you are only worried about me, and I thank you for caring enough about me to feel this need to protect me."

Mordo's face darkened. Stephen still wasn't in Kamar-Taj when Mikan arrived in the sanctuary. Back then, she was lesser than a shadow, a corpse longing for its soul to be relieved from its torments. If not for the Ancient One's help Mordo had no idea what Mikan could have become, he had witnessed all her progress, seen the state she had came from, and the last thing he wanted was to see her fall to that state again, or worse…

"Thanos is after the Infinity Stones, you all know what it means. Especially you Stephen. He is already in the possession of the biggest fragment of the Soul Stone and has been until recently the owner of the Mind Stone. He has also enrolled a man who calls himself Ronan the Accuser to retrieve him the Power Stone. This is a serious matter that I can't ignore. You all know the means of my two Alices. I just can't."

"So, what? Loki will help you place them into more secure places? What a joke!" sneered Stephen.

"This is exactly what he will do, and you will help them Stephen." replied the Ancient One for her.

"You can't possibly be serious?!"

"I think that there is no need for me to respond to this question." the Ancient One dismissed Stephen protests and brought her attention back to her protégée. "Mikan, how many fragments of the Soul Stone do you possess now?"

"Four. I took one from Loki and gained the other while destroying the Gauntlet."

"Good. The more you possess, the stronger the link will be."

Mikan nodded. "You are right. Here is the deal like we settled. I help him translating the Allice's books in his possession and he helps me into finding the Stones and ensuring their security. Also, he is incline to teach me Asgardian magic.

Loki's knowledge of the Nine Realms is an asset that we cannot ignore my friends. Plus, he is in the possession of the remaining work of Allice, the Asgardian Sorcerer who created the Alices Stones. This is also an occasion that I cannot bypass. You also know that they only appear when the threat of the six Gems to be reunited is to its highest."

Mordo and Stephen growled, frustrated that they wouldn't be able to change neither the Ancient One's, nor Mikan's mind about this. Both could be so stubborn when they thought they were in the right, a quality that never truly bothered them, until now.

"So, you want me to be their babysitter, isn't it?" asked Stephen, remembering that his Master planned to involve him in this folly. "This is madness… You do realize that, right? Why am I wasting time trying to argue with you two?"

Stephen sighed, abashed. Mikan feeling guilty hugged him and caressed his face reassuringly. The former surgeon made a show of rolling his eyes but took her in his embrace anyway.

"I am not a child anymore. I know that I may seem fragile to you two, but we all know that I am perfectly able to defend myself."

"Yeah, true. This is why you ended up being kidnapped by Loki!" sneered Mordo. "You don't sound very convincing to me."

"Not my fault, remember?"

"Stop it you two." turning his attention back to the Ancient One Stephen asked: "Do you intend to bring the dog back?"

"I will." the Ancient One confirmed. "Mikan, Stephen, I am asking from you two to lay your trust in me. I will discuss with Loki about the deal alone and will convince him into agreeing to it. You may go."

Mikan, Mordo and Stephen knew better than to argue with the Ancient One. So, they obediently left her alone to face Loki.

As Mikan was closing the door, she caught eye contact with the Asgardian Prince, who was falling ungracefully into the floor. The door closed at his frustrated growl caused by Mikan's provocative and smug smile.

Mikan smirked blissfully and teleported herself to her mansion so she could collect quickly all her stuff while she had the chance to do it without having to bring Loki or the two men with her.

"I don't like this." sighed Mordo.

"Me too. The Ancient One had this knowing smirk each time she laid her eyes on Mikan, which were gleaming in a frightening manner by the way."

Mordo groaned.

"Don't you worry Mordo… I managed to take care of Dormammu, this kid won't survive us were he even to think of trying to betray her." replied Stephen in a dangerous tone.

The two men waited in the hall, ignoring the curious gaze some students threw them.

"S.H.I.E.L.D has done a mistake by letting Loki on Earth." stated Mordo. "I still do not understand why they didn't send him back to Asgard…"

"Isn't obvious? It is only a game of strategies. Mikan said that Loki was working for Thanos. Odin knew this somehow and chose to protect Asgard from the Mad Titan wrath by letting his son on Earth."

"What a bastard!"

"Well, in the mythologies he isn't really known for being noble or good hearted. I am still disappointed by S.H.I.E.L.D's decision to play along though."

"They should have killed him while they were able to…" growled Mordo.

"S.H.I.E.L.D would have been careless of doing so." countered Stephen, while shaking his head in disapproval.

"I've heard that they have asked you to join their band, what do they call it already?"

"The Avengers. I did not accept. I am a Doctor and a Master of the Mystic Arts. If they want me to help them for a case, they can just call me. I told them to come to me only if they think the case is worth the displacement."

"What does it make you then?"

"A consultant." smirked Stephen.

* * *

Every two days Harry would Apparate at the same time in Hermione's office, to enquire about everyone but also to report what the events in the Helicarrier. As the time was nearing, the brightest witch of her age had already prepared two cup of tea and was filling papers when she heard the familiar loud pop. Without turning her head toward her friend, she raised her cup in an inviting motion.

"Tea?"

"Sure." smiled Harry, before to sit in front of his childhood friend. The latter took the bookmark in dark leather that Ron had gifted her and put it in between the pages she had been reading. Only then did her eyes meet Harry's and her lips switched into a smile.

"How are you and Luna doing?"

"Well, you know, Luna doesn't speak much, but she is still upset after our encounter with Mikan… It made her relieve what she has gone through when she had been the prisoner of theses bastards."

Hermione paled at the memory and felt a guilty feeling rise in her chest.

"She had spent ten years without mentioning it to anyone…"

"… Nobody really asked her though. We were too quick to assume that she was safe and sound."

Hermione sighed, ashamed by this cruel reminder.

"… Harry, Luna seems to have somehow grown attached to Mikan Sakura. You should prevent the two of them from being hurt. I believe in this young Alice's innocence and good nature, just as much as you both do."

Harry nodded sadly.

"I know, she seems to have been caught in something way bigger than her… In fact, I came here to ask you about something we have recently discovered about the girl. Not only does she possess countless Alices, but she also seems to master what they call the Mystic Arts, which means that she has been in Kamar-Taj. Hermione, what do you know about this subject?" he asked. "I am heading there in less than an hour, which is the reason why I wanted to gather as much information about them as I could. Just in case, but also because I need to know who I am facing."

"They are Sorcerers, Harry. In the contrary of us, they are not born with their Magic. This means that anybody, you and me included can learn their Art. To them, Magic is the practice of harnessing dimensional energies to manipulate aspects of reality. It encompasses many different activities, including astral projection, divination, spell casting and teleportation. It includes the practices of many cultures, nations and religions as well as many books and writings from ancient times. Depending upon the individual, some sorcerers practice their power by certain belief systems, such as Shamanism, Voodoo, Wicca, or any number of other practices from cultures around the World. The Masters of the Mystic Arts use the Eldritch Magic, which is a light-based Magic that produces sparks and fiery energy. It can be used to generate constructs of tangible energy, such as melee weapons, shields or cast spells by conjuring portals or specific formations with the fiery energy."

"How do you know all that?!"

"Always the tone of surprise!" smirked Hermione. "I did some researches. Thor was keen to lend me some Asgardian books about Magic, and I also paid one visit or two to Hogwarts' library."

Harry puffed, a small smirk playing on his lips.

"I believe that some people never change!" Harry moved to take Hermione in a tenderly embrace before to Disapparate.

* * *

Mikan, Mordo and Stephen were waiting outside the double carved wooden door of the Ancient One's chambers. Fifty minutes had already passed and there was still no sign of Loki or the Ancient One.

Mordo was trying to meditate, effort ruined by the stressed vibes Mikan was emitting. She had started to pace nervously since their spiritual energy had disappeared from the room. Stephen couldn't do much either, he knew that the Ancient One had her reasons to act this way and choose to trust her for once.

"Mikan. Stop pacing." Mordo ordered calmly.

The young woman seated next to him and began to chew her nails. Mordo rolled his eyes at her antics. "Try to meditate Mikan," he sighed.

The Alice took a deep breath and copied her friend's position. At the same time, the doors of the Ancient One's chambers opened to reveal a very pale Loki and a very calm Sorcerer Supreme.

Mikan and Mordo pulled themselves up, and Stephen was quick onto following them.

Mikan frowned at the general confusion in Loki's feelings, she looked at him puzzled and realized that it costed him at first a lot of willpower to hold her gaze. But this was the god of Lies and Mischief they were dealing with. He was quick to master his feeling back.

"Loki, I presume." stated coldly Stephen.

"The one and only." smirked Loki.

Mikan looked frustratedly at him. Even in this state of high confusion the man's ego didn't seem to have any limits!

Loki narrowed briefly his green eyes in her direction. His smirk only grew wider, completely ignoring her growing murderous intent towards him.

"Loki, Mikan, Stephen, come here. The rituals needed will last two hours. In the meaning time, Mordo, I trust you to take care of these unwanted intruders," instructed the bald woman.

Mordo nodded his head sharply and exited the room, but not before sending a deathly warning glare to Loki. The latter didn't seem very impressed by his attempts to threaten him.

The Ancient One conjured a portal to the Mirror Dimension, in which the Alice, the Asgardian and the Guardian of the Eye of Agamotto were quick to step into.

The Sorcerer Supreme drew a complicated Tao Mandalas on the floor. It contained three external circles over which Loki, Mikan and Stephen placed themselves, while the Ancient One took place in the center of the Mandalas.

"I need to collect your blood, four drops, no more, no less in this little bottle. I will be its guardian. The rituals will also require a strand of your hair."

As she kept going through in her explanations, a knife and a bottle were materialized in the Ancient One's hands. She first passed it to Mikan who used the knife to slightly cut her finger and thoroughly let four drops of her blood fall in the recipient before to pass it to Loki, who finally passed it to Stephen, after doing the same.

The two Sorcerers and the Alice witnessed as the Ancient casted various spells on the now full bottle, before to transform it into a pendant that hid its true nature.

Mikan was reassured by the obvious control that the Ancient One had over the situation. This helped her a lot into relaxing through the process as she laid her entire trust in her old friend. She caught her gaze and gave her a little smile.

The Ancient One passed in between them and took from each a strand of hair. She then took it upon herself to braid them into three wristbands which she attached around their wrists. The Sorceress Supreme casted few spells on them before to return in the center of the Mandalas.

"You have to wait two hours for the magical process to be accomplished. Until then, I advise you to meditate."

The three concerned exchanged a silent look before to do as they had been told to as the same thought crossed their mind: ' _These promise to be two very long hours…_ '

* * *

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 **A.N:**

 **So here we are X)**

 **I really hope that you have enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Please review and tell me what you think of this new chapter ! ^^**


	9. Of Oaths and Confrontations

**Here is the ninth chapter. I really want to apologize for the delay. I have been through terrible losses this past 6 months. I was really devastated and grew bitter of everything that I used to enjoy doing before. This is the main reason why I distanced myself from writing. Thankfully, my best friend finally helped me deal with this situation and made me realize how awfully stupid it was from me to do so. I truly hope that you can forgive me for not even warning you about it.**

 **Writing and reading are my true passion, they make me a better person, allow me to create my own world and taught me countless lessons about love, life and friendship. I hope that by finally giving another chance to this fan fiction, I'll become a better person again.  
**

 **I wanted to thank all the amazing reviewers of this fanfic, its loyal followers and the amazing persons who favourited it.  
**

 **Please review and tell me what you think about it! Constructive criticism is always welcome, it allows me to take your critics into consideration and helps me better this story and my writing (English isn't my mother-language).  
**

 ** **Disclaimer: I do not own neither Gakuen Alice, which belongs to Tachibana Higuchi, nor Avengers, which belongs to Marvel and even less Harry Potter, which is the work of the wonderful J.K.R. But I do own the plot and my OCs characters of course.****

 **Chapter 9: Of Oaths and Confrontations :**

Three loud knocks resounded through the Kamar-Taj Sanctum. Hamir and Mordo headed calmly toward the double craven wooden door, knowing perfectly that S.H.I.E.L.D's agents were behind it.

As they opened the door, Mordo recognized Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanoff, Steve Rogers, who was in civilian outfits, and a dirty blond-haired woman, whose robes seemed to hide an artefact containing magic; her feature weren't unknown to him.

"Do I know you?" Mordo asked, already having a rough idea of who the witch was.

"My father, Xenophilius Lovegood, has studied between your ranks two years ago." answered Luna in a sing-song voice.

"Luna Lovegood."

The small woman smiled kindly to the men in emerald and silver robes. Stating that they were keen to listen to her, Luna continued. "I met Mikan one week ago. We both had the same intention: destroying a Horcrux, an evil artefact, which was in the possession of S.H.I.E.L.D."

Mordo leaned toward the small witch, a frown on his face.

"If you are working with S.H.I.E.L.D then why would you try to destroy one of its possessions?"

"Our Community discovered about it only after Mikan mentioned it in one of her interrogations, which was leaded by my friend Hermione. We immediately decided to take the matter in hand. That is how I meet Mikan."

"So, Lovegood, what does S.H.I.E.L.D exactly want from us?" asked her sarcastically Mordo.

Natasha got ahead of Luna to answer him : by now, they had surely gained enough time for Harry to infilter the Sanctum.

"Mikan has helped Loki escape from Earth. We know that she had been trained here and expect from you to cooperate into finding her."

"We barely know nothing about her and hoped you would accept to provide us some information." Bruce added.

Hamir and Mordo studied them quietly and exchanged a look before coming to the same decision.

"We will allow you the access of our Sanctum to the condition you surrender us your weapons," then, looking pointedly to Natasha, Hamir added: "This includes the three daggers in your sleeves, the two devices on your wrists, the gun in your left boot and the knife in the second. I will also ask from you to hand me your belt."

Steve smirked at her and Bruce sighed helplessly.

Once inside, the team followed Hamir and Mordo, observing carefully their surroundings, standing their ground. Through the hall's windows, the team could observe students perfecting their magical abilities, and some dueling.

"I thought that weapons weren't allowed inside sanctuaries." Natasha pointed out.

"They aren't. Especially if they are in the possession of someone like you. However, if we let you protect the world from physical dangers, we, Sorcerers, safeguard it against mystical threats: dark sorcerers, ghosts, demons, and dark gods. We teach our students who are willing to fulfill this task how to fight and defend themselves for this honorable mission. Only the students who reach the stage of Apprentice are given this opportunity."

"And… Which stage did Mikan Sakura reach?" the redheaded Agent asked cautiously, while discreetly observing the training grounds.

"We only have five stages: Novices, Apprentices, Disciples and Sorcerer Supreme. Mikan is a Disciple."

"Is?" Steve frowned.

"Was, is, and will be as long as she wishes to." Mordo responded, just as he opened a double craved door. He held it open and let Hamir step in, followed by the team before closing it behind them.

 _'Have a good time in New York!'_ smirked Mordo before returning to the Sorcerer Supreme's Chambers.

While silently following the man in emerald robes, it was Harry's turn to smirk. Now that he was in, all he had to do was to get as much information as possible about Mikan, and maybe Loki, without being caught.

* * *

Mikan gasped as an intense pain ran through her right wrist. The strand of their tangled hair the Ancient One had attached around it had disappeared to let place to a bracelet which tangled orange, golden and silver cross metallic strands, leaving her skin on fire. Turning her eyes to her peers, the Alice observed as the god of Lies and Mischief raised his eyebrows in a disapproving way, obviously not enjoying the meaning of it and Stephen grew pale. Mikan sighed.

"To finish the ritual, you have to swear on your blood your loyalty to each other." said coolly the Ancient One as she went up to Loki. Then, she removed the bottle, she was wearing as a pendant, containing the trio's mixed blood. Loki hold out his hand and the Ancient One covered it by her own, in such a way that the bottle would lay in between. "Loki you will be the one to start, then it will be Stephen's turn and finally Mikan's."

Mikan looked attentively to the fallen Asgardian prince. He was paler than usual, his sharp and angular features still betraying no emotions, unlike his heart. _Indecision_ : Loki, just like her, was wondering which name he would chose. _'He is still looking for an identity.'_

Just as if reading out loud her thoughts, Loki looked at her pointedly in the eyes as he said the following words :

"I, Loki, _son of Laufey_ , swear on my blood my loyalty to Mikan Sakura Yukihira and Stephen Strange."

Mikan bowed slightly her head. _'Laufeyson will it be then.'_ Loki arched elegantly a curious eyebrow before choosing to ignore the Alice's odd behavior.

Stephen, not entirely obvious to the scenery playing before him, chose to proceed with his part, when the Ancient One came to him.

"I, Doctor Stephen Strange, swear on my blood my loyalty to Mikan Sakura Yukihira and Loki Laufeyson." swore Stephen, sounding bitter at the end of his vow.

Loki and Mikan smirked for two completely different reasons.

"I also enjoy the prospect of our partnership as much as you do." purred Loki with an icy voice.

Stephen snorted, and Mikan sighed but it was with an amused smirk on her face that she teased her friend. "Was the 'Doctor' really necessary?"

The former surgeon rolled his eyes but smirked back at her. A warm wave of familiarity ran through Mikan's veins as she remembered the complicity and all the tricks that hid behind it. At this instant, Mikan felt that could nearly forget the seriousness of the situation she was in. Nearly.

"I, Mikan Sakura Yukihira, swear on my blood my loyalty to the 'oh so great Doctor' Stephen Strange and to Loki _Laufeyson_."

"You're such a child Mikan." scolded her Stephen.

The young woman winked maliciously at him and the Guardian of the Time Stone made a show of rolling his eyes at her.

"Well, if you are done, I would like to point out the fact that is the best moment for you to consult each other on your plans to protect the Stones." The Ancient One advised.

Mikan's teasing smile dropped of her face, overwhelmed by the seriousness of the situation. She turned her attention to Loki, expecting him to initiate this unpleasant discussion.

"Our current priority is the Power Stone. Since Thanos has already sent Ronan to chase after it, we will have to be very cautious and act quickly." Loki started, arching his brows while turning toward Mikan, "The books can wait for the moment."

Mikan nodded in agreement.

"There is no questioning this. What do you know about this Star-Lord, Loki? With Gamora on his trail, this will be harder for us: she is Thanos' daughter, so she must be aware of the real nature of the Orb. If we consider the worst options she might as well have already caught him."

"Peter Quill is a Midgardian kidnapped and then raised by the Centaurian Yondu Udonta, leader of a key faction of the Ravagers. To make it short, Ravagers are an interstellar crime syndicate comprising of thieves, smugglers, criminals, bandits, mercenaries, bounty hunter and pirates. By stealing the Orb for himself, Quill betrayed the Ravagers. And it just happens to be that I know the intermediary this thief is working for. We should pay him a visit first."

Mikan frowned at the mention of Quill being a Midgardian, wondering how this could even be possible? _'Well, maybe just as likely to happen as you being kidnapped by a dethroned Asgardian king in an uninhabited planet located in the Andromeda Galaxy?'_ her inner voice was quick to retort.

"What about the Mind Stone that is in the possession of S.H.I.E.L.D? And where are we supposed to be going, anyway?" finally asked Stephen, who, until then, had only been watching the two interact.

"I highly doubt that S.H.I.E.L.D is still in its possession," replied Loki. "They must have asked Thor to secure it elsewhere than on Earth."

Mikan studied Loki's affirmation and realized how much sense it made.

"And where do you think this would be? With S.H.I.E.L.D influencing your brother's opinion, I doubt that he will chose a place as predictable as Asgard." reflected Mikan, caressing distractedly the now cold metal of her bracelet.

"The Andromeda Galaxy too, a place named Knowhere." Loki replied, stepping out of the Tao Mandalas drawn on the floor.

"Too?" asked conversationally Stephen as he joined Mikan and Loki out of the Tao Mandalas. "And how are we supposed to make a 2.5 million light-years long travel, may I ask?"

"We will teleport from here to a secret basement I possess in a planet near Xandar, our first destination." Loki responded, in the same manner.

"I understand for Xandar, Loki, but I would like you to precise why you believe your brother will chose to place the Mind Stone there."

Loki looked appreciatively at Mikan.

"Knowhere, the severed head of an ancient Celestial being, is affiliated to the Tivan Group. In other words, to Taneleer Tivan: The Collector. All is in the name _sweetheart_."

"In Flamel's Diary there is a little paragraph about him. I believe that it is said that no one should trust the guy, especially not with a Stone." thought aloud Mikan, frowning at the silliness of the idea. "Are you sure of this, Loki?"

"Well, _darling_ , I never said that Thor shines by his cleverness." calmly stated Loki.

Mikan rolled her eyes but chose to leave no comment on this.

"To be honest with you Mikan, I already met Thor. I, for once, will take Loki's side on this." sneered Stephen.

"Stephen! You too! You gotta be kidding me?!"

For the first time, Mikan saw the shadow of a real smile on Loki's face.

* * *

"Hotaru, I thought I only agreed into coming to S.H.I.E.L.D… I don't see where it was written on our contract that we were to go to the Andromeda Galaxy!"

"This is not surprising, Luca." responded calmly his impassive friend : "There was no contract in the first place."

Luca restrained himself from strangling the 23-year-old young woman. He chose to cool down and started to help her pack their stuff instead. He stopped at the sight of a jar full of Alices Stones.

"I've warned Shiki and Tsubasa about what is going on. They both send me those jars of stones. We might need them there." stated the inventor.

"You did? And… How did they react to Mikan being alive?" he asked cautiously.

"Shiki and her uncle were pretty shaken by it, even though they tried to hide it. They both pretended to be angry at us for using the voice of the Academy without warning them about it and for hiding the information we found from them. As for Tsubasa, you know how he is, so there is no need for me to tell you about it."

Luca sighed. Yes, he had an idea of how they all must have reacted to this news.

Sensing the presence of one his spiders, a _Patu digua_ , Luca bend down to its level, encouraging it to speak to him, using without making any efforts his Animal Pheromone Alice.

"Patia says that Harry successfully entered Kamar-Taj and that the team sent there was tricked into coming to the New-York Sanctum. We should quickly join them, they're getting ready to go to Asgard."

"Let's go then."

Taking all the devices they would need in the Andromeda Galaxy and Asgard, Luca and Hotaru headed toward the special teleportation zone made for Thor on the deck of the Helicarrier.

Finding their way through the structure, coming to a number of hydraulic-operated doors that involved all sorts of facility security system, the two friends ended up catching the sight of Steve Rogers and Luna Lovegood. Luca kept himself from smiling at the amusing sight of the tall and imposing Captain America arguing kindly with the small British witch.

"Miss Imai, Luca, are you ready?" Steve asked politely.

"Yes. Luna are you coming with us?" Luca asked, confused by the witch's two hands full of bags and what seemed to be a heavy backpack.

"That's what we were discussing about." sighed Steve: "it wasn't part of the plan."

"I believe that it will be a good thing for your team to have at least the presence of a witch or a wizard. Furthermore, it may be my only occasion to go to space." argued Luna.

"Luna, this can't stand as an argument." sighed the soldier.

"I think it does, Rogers." cut him Hotaru. "Since Potter is still stuck in Kamar-Taj, he won't be able to come with us. Just as you need Alices in the case of a possible confrontation with Mikan, having a witch with us, even though she isn't Asgardian, can't be anything but an advantage for us."

Luna beamed at the inventor who only nodded curtly at her before getting on the deck once her point made. Hotaru was quickly joined by Steve, who wasn't done with their discussion yet.

"I like your friend." said Luna in a dreamy voice to Luca.

"I think you do remind her of a friend she used to love a lot." thought Luca aloud.

Luna's already wide eyes widened in comprehension.

"I hadn't found the occasion to talk to you personally about it Luca, but Mikan misses you two a lot. She has never forgot any of you. It is a good thing that she has finally found support in Kamar-Taj, because she was very lonely. And you know better than I do that loneliness is Mikan's greatest nemesis. This young woman has been through too many horrors since she disappeared from your lives. You should not do the mistake of judging her hastily or expect from her to be the same person she once used to be."

Leaving him to reflect on these words, Luna charmed her things so they all could be contained in a tiny purse. Once ready, she joined Thor, Jane, Steve, Hotaru, Fury and Tony. Luca was quick to follow her lead.

"Miss Lovegood, Nogi, Miss Imai, Miss Foster and Thor, I trust you not to fail this mission. If you were to be confronted by Loki, Mikan Sakura, use all means to bring them back. Either it is dead or alive."

Jane sensed all Thor's muscles tense. The brunette caressed gently the back of his hand with her thumb.

"I won't kill my brother, neither will I try to kill Lady Sakura, but I will do all that is in my power to bring them back."

On these words an impressive beam of energy covered the team as they were transported, particle by particle, to another realm.

They appeared in front of Frigga and Heimdall. The Queen of Asgard, in her long silver robes and long golden hair was pacing nervously near the imposing Bifrost's Gatekeeper. When she caught the sight of Thor and his Midgardian friends, she ran towards them, worry all over her face.

"Mother, I am sorry, but we still have no clues to where Loki and Lady Sakura are." Thor apologized softly, guessing his mother's unspoken questions, before taking her in his comforting embrace.

He released her and turned toward Jane.

"Mother, I am honored to present you my dear and lovely Jane." Thor smiled.

The brunette's cheeks turned bright red. She advanced toward Frigga and made a timid reverence.

"Your Majesty, it is an…" Jane was cut off by Frigga's strong embrace.

"I am happy to finally meet you, my child!" Frigga smiled softly to her son's lover, smile that earned her a cute and timid one.

"Mother, here are my friends Lady Imai, a great inventor," Thor paused as Hotaru nodded curtly to his mother. "And Luca Nogi. Both are gifted of special powers that are called Alices."

Hotaru and Luca were surprised to catch a sparkle of comprehension shine in Frigga's clever eyes.

"And I have the great pleasure to introduce you to Lady Lovegood. She is able of witchcraft, just like you Mother." beamed Thor.

The silvery-eyed witch smiled politely to Thor's mother.

"I've read a lot about Asgard in my childhood, it is an honor to meet you in person Your Majesty, Heimdall." smiled sweetly Luna to both.

"Mother, I would like you to take care of both of Lady Imai and Jane: we think that by studying your Magic, they would be able to create a device able to track Loki."

Sadness overwhelmed Frigga's features but disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

"Of course, my dears. I will show you all what you think will be necessary to find my younger son." offered the heartbroken queen mother.

Frigga, Jane and Hotaru stepped out the Observatory. Once out of their sight, the golden hemispheric shape closed behind them.

"To where?" asked Heimdall.

"Knowhere." responded Thor.

* * *

Harry had followed Mordo in what seemed to be chambers. Lurked against a wall, the Chosen One observed cautiously the man meditate.

Suddenly a portal cut the air and a bald woman dressed in golden robes walked out of it. Harry recognized her as the Ancient One. Inwardly, the wizard held his breath as the Sorcerer Supreme looked pointedly at him for a fraction of a second before deflecting her attention to Karl Mordo.

"Is it done?" inquired the man, irritation in his voice.

"Yes. They're now reflecting on what to do next." The Ancient One answered as she sat to the floor, copying Mordo's fashion.

"Are you really sure about trusting Loki?" sighed the Disciple.

Harry observed cautiously the Ancient One's features: even though they seemed to be impassible, he could read a little bit of sadness in them.

"Loki is not someone trustable, Mordo. Mikan has been clever to make such a move: no matter with how much honey he will try to cover his real nature, she won't be lured by it. However, with the discussion I had with him, the ritual and Stephen's and Mikan's prudence it should be fine."

"Why him? I doubt that Thor would have refused to help Mikan securing the Stones." retorted Mordo.

"It is true. However, Loki possess three things that Thor doesn't: Allice's remaining work, an incredible knowledge of the Nine Realms and Magic."

"It's all because of this Allice, isn't?" Mordo sighed defeatedly.

 _'What are they talking about?'_ frowned Harry uncertain.

"Yes and no: it's about Allice and Mikan in general." retorted the bald Sorceress, "When Mikan came here the first time I observed her future's possibilities," the Ancient One posed to stand up and start to brew some tea, "In most of them, she dies before the age of 26. You know her physical conditions… But in the ones where she meets Loki, she has the possibilities to live longer. Asgardian and Eldritch magics combined, it will have the power to stabilize her body." while putting two cups on a tray, the Sorcerer Supreme continued: "This association will allow Mikan to use her powers for a greater good. It is true that there are still many possibilities for her to die on the process of her new quest but…"

"At least she would be useful until she dies?" Mordo cut her off. "Is it really how it works? Mikan deserves better than that!"

"I know."

Mordo was cooled down by the answer. He opened his mouth to close it instantly. What could he respond to that?

Harry felt his heart clench in his chest, somehow the conversation he was overhearing reminded him too much of the memories Severus Snape had given to him before dying.

Suddenly another portal cut the air letting Loki, Mikan and Doctor Strange appear. Loki was in one of his impressive Asgardian outfit; bearing a long dark evergreen cloak, a staff, and his so famous gleaming horned helmet. Mikan looked paler than the last time he had seen her and Stephen Strange and his impressive red Cloak of Levitation seemed to be both quite irritated. Out of the three, Mikan was the only one dressed like any Muggle would.

Quietly and cautiously, Harry pulled out his wand from his robes. All he had to do was to cast a tracking spell. Uttering the incantation under his breath, Harry aimed Loki in particular.

Then everything happened so quickly.

Mikan instantly sensed the jet of magical energy targeting Loki. Activating her Barrier Alice just in time, the curse hit her shield very hard. This time prepared, Mikan stood her ground and wasn't destabilized by the powerful shockwave, which wasn't Harry's case. It hit him cruelly, sending his Invisibility Cloak fly across the room.

As the Barrier she had conjured faded, Mikan cursed under her breath. She was still too weakened by the previous events to be able to use her Alices to full potential.

The adrenaline of the war resurfacing, Harry quickly recovered from the shock. " _Expelliarmus!_ " he cried, blowing Loki's staff out of his hand as Stephen and Mordo were knocked back to the floor. Taking advantage of his opponents' surprise Harry knocked down a closet to use it as a barricade. " _Accio Invisibility Cloak!_ " he muttered under his breath, reflecting on which spell to use next; they were five and he was alone.

Mikan used her Alices to send Harry's barricade fly across the room and was met by another jet of light that hit Mordo once again, knocking his head back into a table edge.

Harry not willing to give up easily choose to combine Apparition and Disapparition to his curses. He couldn't and wouldn't leave before he successively hit one of his opponents with a Tracking Spell.

Loki who had gathered his fallen staff and pointed it at the Midgardian wizard: he wouldn't be fooled twice. He had to admit, though, that the Midgardian was indeed powerful and used his talent cleverly. Flicking his staff so it would send Harry's spells away, Loki watched as Stephen and the Sorcerer Supreme tried to bind the wizard with tight sparky ties, which met Harry's Shield Charm that was so strong they were knocked off-balance.

Pointing the tip of his staff at Harry's spells, Loki broke them easily. Remembering Hermione's warnings to not target directly the god of Mischief, Harry casted the Reductor Curse at the column beside Loki, blasting it into pieces of stone that flew everywhere across the room and eventually one hit Loki in the back of the head.

Finally, Mikan took advantage of Harry's diverted attention to immobilize him with her Shadow Manipulation Alice, then she snatched his wand from him.

The young woman had to admit she was impressed by Harry's capacities; the lone state of the Ancient One's chambers was enough proof of it.

For several moments, there was silence, save the sound of Mordo grunts as he regained consciousness and the _drip drip_ of Loki's blood tickling to the floor. Finally pointing his staff at Harry's heart, Loki prepared himself to strike the last blow.

In a sharp and cold motion, Loki plunged the staff.

"Why?" Loki asked irritably when the stroke hit Mikan's strong shield.

"We don't kill." growled Mikan. "Harry is on our side." the Alice added observing Harry's features.

"I second this." groaned Harry, his back hurting. "I am just disappointed that you chose to put your trust in Loki rather than in Thor."

 _'Me too. Believe me, Harry, me too!'_ sighed inwardly Mikan. _'Sadly, I didn't have much options.'_

"I hope you will forgive me, Harry Potter." apologized the young woman as she posed her hand over his forehead, taking his consciousness away. "You're a sorcerer, aren't you?! It would have been so easy for you to erase his memory instead!" yelled Mikan angrily.

"A useless waste of time and energy." Loki snarled, feeling no remorse. "You are being overly sentimental."

Mikan draw in a breath sharply, mastering her anger back. There was no time for a quarrel with Loki over their moral beliefs right now. Instead, the young Alice chose to focus the energy of her anger into stealing Harry's memory of the events. Once done, she used her Space Distortion Alice to make appear an empty jar in which she placed the blue stone in her hand, making it disappear.

Stephen took his Sling Ring and traced his right hand in a circular pattern, conjuring a portal which enclosed itself around Harry, sending his unconscious body to the Avengers' conference room.

"This is one less problem to worry about." Stephen sighed, ignoring Mikan and Loki icy starring contest, neither of them willing to give in to the other. The room was once again immersed in an uncomfortable silence. Finally, Mikan surprised everyone by placing herself at Loki's height and posing her cold fingers on the back of his head. Neither of them broke eye contact even when Mikan finished healing his wound.

"We have already wasted too much time here." stated coldly Loki, irritated by Mikan stubbornness, by Stephen imposed presence, by the way events turned out, and by his 'discussion' with the Ancient One.

Reluctantly, Mikan placed her right hand on Loki's forearm. Stephen refusing to touch directly Loki, placed a protective hand around Mikan's waist. Smugly, he realized that the dog didn't like it.

* * *

They reappeared in an impressive silver room which Mikan guessed was Allice's secret basement's living room. Just as quickly as it had appeared, everything that was around them vanished.

Xandar.

Loki observed out of the corner of his eye Mikan and Stephen being enthralled by the sight of the three suns the planet orbited around as well as what seemed to be a very advanced civilization and technology. But mainly what caught their eyes was the variety of species inhabiting it, reason to why Loki and Stephen didn't stand out with their extravagant outfits.

Recalling their initial mission, both Stephen and Mikan turned their attention back to Loki.

"We appeared near The Broker's Store. I doubt that he still is, if he ever was in the Orb's possession, but at least, he will be our first lead to where the Power Stone is."

Crossing the bridge, they appeared on to make their way to what looked like a futuristic garage, Mikan studied discreetly her environment, musing about the golden flying ships above them, that she assumed belonged to the planet's army. Too soon, they were only separated from the Broker by an electronic door.

Loki waved his hands and both Mikan and Stephen could observe them glow in green. The door opened.

Inside of what looked like a jewelry and relics store, stood the Broker behind a glass display counter. The least Mikan could say about his hairstyle was that it was rather unique. With no offense intended toward him, the man reminded her of these hairless rats used in laboratories.

Both Mikan and Stephen realized that the merchant wasn't surprised by their appearance, instead he only seemed to be annoyed when he recognized Loki.

"I didn't expect you to be after it too." The Broker confessed.

"Well, I am." Loki replied while distractedly observing a shining green snake, made of what Mikan believed to be emeralds and diamonds. "Where is it?"

"Star-Lord, Gamora and a criminal duo where all arrested by the Nova Corps. Just recently they managed to all break out of the prison they were held in."

Activating her Memory Manipulation Alice, Mikan posed her hand on the store's walls and watched how the events happened.

 _"The Orb." Star-Lord bragged, showing it the Broker. "As commissioned."_

 _"Where is Yondu?" asked the Broker, with a suspicious and surprised look._

 _Star-Lord smirked. "One of the bigger. Sends his love and told me to tell that you got the best eyebrows in the business." He teased. Then looking at the object he had risked his life to retrieve, he asked : "What is it?"_

 _"It's my policy to never discuss my clients or their needs." the Broker replied, studying the Artefact's authenticity._

 _"Yeah, well I almost died getting it for you." Star-lord retorted back._

 _"An occupational hazard I'm sure in your line of work." The Broker sneered._

 _"Some machine headed freak working for a dude named Ronan…" Star-Lord started_

 _The Broker alarmed by this beginning of confession cut him off : "Ronan?! I'm sorry Mr. Quill! I surely am, but I want no part of this transaction if Ronan is involved!" forcing the Orb back into Star-lord's hands._

 _"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Who's Ronan?!"_

 _"A Kree fanatic outraged by the peace treaty, who will not rest until Xandarian culture –_ MY culture! _– is wiped from existence!" freaked out The Broker, squeezing Peter Quill out of his shop._

 _"Come on there!" Star-Lord tried, while holding out._

 _"I'm on someone bad side I'd rather not be on!" yelled the Broker while forcing Peter Quill out._

 _"What about my bad side?!" fought back Peter._

 _Waving his hands so the electric door would swing wide open, The Broker took advantage of Peter Quill confusion to push him out, closing the door very quickly._

 _Then the Broker observed from afar as Quill was ambushed by Gamora, who took the Orb and fled into the streets, the fight that issued, the intervention of two bounty hunters, an armed to the teeth raccoon and a humanoid tree and finally as the Nova Corps arrived and arrested the group."_

"He told us the truth." Mikan confirmed. Then, exiting the merchant's shop, the Alice caressed softly, with the tips of her fingers, the wall Gamora had rested against. A wave of shock ran through her spine.

The young woman calmly joined her two partners inside.

"Thank for your help." Mikan smiled politely to the merchant.

Stephen and Loki followed her outside.

"Gamora has betrayed her father and Ronan. And guess what? She also has the intention of selling the Orb to the Collector!" Mikan informed her two partners. "She seems to be rather sane for someone raised by the Mad Titan!" she sneered.

Loki smirked. The _Little One_ was right. Even though he had observed Gamora only briefly, he knew that she wasn't really onto her adoptive father's plans.

"Well it seems that luck is on our side." Stephen smirked as everything around them vanished once again.

This time, the travel seemed slightly different, progressing in a slower pace, which allowed Mikan to perceive the regular hopping. They weren't just teleporting from point A to point B. No. Loki was using portals, teleporting from each to each so fast that no one should have guessed it.

 _'That for sure would have allowed me to come back to Earth by myself when Loki kidnapped me... However, that information can still prove itself to be useful later on!'_ , Mikan though exasperated. Before she even realized, the trio had materialized in a dark and filthy crowed place, surrounded by enormous tanks filled with yellow liquids.

Mikan was struck by the contrast between the bright colors of Xandar and the darkness that overwhelmed the place they appeared into.

The three members of the awkward newly formed team all turned their head to the same direction; from where emanated a powerful energy that could only belong to the Power Stone.

As Loki opened his mouth to speak, they were surprised by the powerful violet explosion that was closely followed by a brilliant beam of energy.

"The Bifrost! Thor…" whispered Mikan throwing a glance at Loki and Stephen to agree upon a quickly structured plan: "I'll take care of them."

As both men only nodded to her before rushing toward the Power Stone direction, Mikan headed toward the place where Thor and his team had landed. Running through the tanks and narrow passageways, avoiding the frantic crowd, Mikan caught the glimpse of Thor's red cape. She activated her Barrier Alice and used her Teleportation Alice, cutting short the distance separating them. Not detecting any trace of the Mind Stone on him, Mikan punched Thor with all her might as he detected her presence, taking him by surprise. Knocked off-balance, the god of Thunder crashed into one of the tanks surrounding them, spilling yellow liquids everywhere.

With a groan, Thor pulled himself up, spun Mjolnir around his fist and threw it at Mikan before starting running in her direction. To his frustration the young Midgardian disappeared before the impact and reappeared behind him, elbowed him strongly as the Hammer landed loudly into another tank. Understanding that he had to change his offensive strategy, Thor concentrated on his powers and unleashed it fiercely within the area Mikan and he were in. Thor smirked triumphally as the young woman collapsed abruptly.

Cautiously, the robust Avenger closed the distance between him and the unconscious woman to realize he had been tricked, still unaware of Mikan's presence on top of a building three blocks away from him.

Out of Thor's attention, Mikan activated her Mind-Reading Alice: they hadn't brought the Mind Gem with them. Heimdall had discouraged them from doing so. She felt grateful for it. With the Time Stone that Stephen wore proudly and the Power Stone, it would have been too dangerous to bring another one in there.

Out of a sudden, the sound of a loud pop drew back her attention from Thor thoughts. Turning around too late to face her opponents, she was hit by a Stunning Spell that caught her off guard. When she realized who her opponents were, Mikan's blood ran cold in her veins. Luca…

The blonde Alice went pale. Mikan stood there, only at harm length. The tears in her eyes said it all; she had recognized him.

"Why?" Luca whispered as Luna cast the counter spell, freeing Mikan from the invisible ropes that were tying her. The dirty blonde-haired witch stepped aside, knowing better than to intrude this oh-so-needed encounter.

Luca observed Mikan open and close her mouth several times, unable to utter any word. What could she possibly say? How could she bring herself to when she wasn't even able to look at him in the eyes?

Suddenly the events of the last twelve years of Mikan's life weighed heavily on her. They didn't belong to the same world anymore… All Mikan wanted was to go away, flee from her past, one more time, escape from Luca's blue gaze. _'I am a coward.'_

' _Mikan misses you two a lot. She has never forgot any of you. […] You should not do the mistake of judging her hastily or expect from her to be the same person she once used to be._ ' Remembering, Luna's words, Luca closed the few steps separating him from his former childhood friend. Caressing her check silently, he witnessed her eyes widened before taking her in his bear crushing embrace. Hesitantly, Mikan slowly returned his embrace and rested her head on his shoulder. Luca could sense a little moisture spreading into his shirt, but it truly was the last thing he was concerned about. He couldn't help but feel lighter having Mikan in his arms, completely ignoring the fact that she had joined Loki's side and that her five Doppelgangers' clones were giving one hell of a fight against Thor in this same moment.

"Luca… I am…" started Mikan before standing dead still. With an alarmed look she turned around to see the wide Kree Warship, the Dark Aster entering Knowhere. "Luca, I am so sorry… I have to go. Be prudent." Mikan apologized sincerely before vanishing from Luca's warm embrace.

Appearing on the top of another building, Mikan spotted Loki and Stephen fighting Gamora, Quill, the raccoon and the tree humanoid. The two Sorcerers, combining their magical skills, seemed to slowly assure the victory of the battle. Not too far from their fighting spot, Ronan's army of Sakaarans, leaded by Nebula, had landed and headed straight toward the fight, while Ronan seemed only focused on an imposing blue and red warrior. Mikan quickly choose to teleport Thor from his place to Ronan's, while Luna and Luca joined him by Apparating. Adding two of clones to their team, Mikan only leaved once sure that the three were handling well the situation. She then joined Loki and Stephen on the battlefield.

With the overwhelming number of new coming assailants, Gamora, Quill and Rocket took advantage of this diversion to escape Loki and Stephen into Mining Pods. The two Sorcerers were still engaged in their fight against the Sakaarans soldiers when Mikan appeared before them.

"Where is Ronan?" asked Loki, thrusting one horn of his golden helmet into the stomach of his opponent.

"Fighting Thor, another guy, Luca and Luna." Mikan responded, breathlessly.

"And the Mind Stone?" threw Stephen.

"Asgard!" Mikan shouted, as she used once again her Doppelganger Alice to turn the situation to their advantage. With her clones and Stephen help, they trapped all the remaining Sakaarans soldiers in the Mirror Dimension in where three of Mikan's clones kept fighting them.

Stating that there was no Mining Pod left, Loki teleported himself on top of a Necrocraft, Stephen used a portal to do the same, while Mikan activated her Levitation Alice and combined it with the Air Manipulation and Teleportation so she could fly at the same level of Gamora's pod and Nebula's Necrocraft. Two Sakaarans flew across the air. Mikan smirked: Loki and Stephen hadn't obviously had a hard time retrieving the pods they were on top of.

Mikan followed closely the two Thanos' daughters across Knowhere, while fighting off both Quill and Rocket Raccoon and blocking the laser shots aiming her. Stephen made two portals in which both their pods disappeared. While some Necrocrafts suffered the same fate, other crashed into buildings and the others were blasted by Loki's and Stephen's attacks. However, neither of them was familiar enough with the Necrocrafts to follow Nebula's and Gamora's pace.

Rocket and Quill, who hadn't given up on defending their ally, reappeared. Following closely Loki and Stephen, they engaged another fight.

In no time, only Nebula, Mikan and Gamora remained, as the later was forced to head by her sister to head into deep space.

Mikan winced, she was the only one without a spaceship and in this airless environment, she couldn't pursue her opponents any longer. Gamora wasn't in a better position: her pod had started to slow down, threatening to shut down at any one time. The former assassin cursed under her breath, _'These pods aren't meant to be out here!'_ she realized, desperate. Her only hope was to reason with her crazy sister.

"Nebula, please." Gamora pleaded. "If Ronan gets this Stone, he'll kill us all."

"Not all." Nebula, countered. Finally, close enough to stable her sister's pod in the firing line, Nebula smirked. "You will already be dead."

Nebula fired, destroying Gamora's Mining Pod into pieces. As the Lumophoid was about to retrieve the Orb, Mikan beat her into it, conjuring a portal that closed itself around it. The young Alice, whose Mind-Reading was activated, noticed that Gamora was still alive. Not wanting to leave the green lady to die in the outer space, Mikan drew another portal, picking up her unconscious body in her strong arms.

Once she had ensured the safety of the Orb with her Space Distortion Alice, Mikan had to dodge Nebula's laser shots. With the disadvantage of holding Gamora, Mikan chose to teleport, taking the risk of overusing her Alices one more time.

Finding a good hiding spot in an inhabited building, Mikan laid down Gamora on the ground, and observed carefully the fierce woman regain consciousness. Gamora, who woke up in an unknown place, in front of Loki's ally, immediately pulled herself up, placing herself into a fighting stance.

"Where's the Orb?"

"In a safe place." Mikan replied, ignoring her blatant sneer.

"It can never be a safe place in Loki's hands." Gamora replied.

"You're right. But it's in mine." Mikan retorted, restraining her with her Shadow Manipulation. "I don't want to fight you, Gamora. We both have the same goals, preventing Thanos gaining possession of the six Stones."

"Then I should remind you that he sent _Loki_ , retrieve him one."

"Just like he did with you." Mikan kindly reminded her, uncovering the bracelet which entangled orange, golden and silver cross metallic strands. Gamora's eyes widened in comprehension. "I've assured myself Loki's loyalty. Not for power, but to put an end to Thanos' quest for it. You are the one who lived most of your life under his control, you know better than I do what he is capable of."

Gamora frowned, growing even more cautious of the woman standing in front of her.

"Why should I believe you?"

"Thor, Luna, Luca and two of my clones are fighting Ronan outside, I saved your life when I didn't have to. Otherwise, I have no real proof to provide, but I doubt that you can trust a man like the Collector and not me, don't you think? In Earth, we have this old adage: 'my enemy's enemy is my friend.' Now that's for you to decide which of these you want to consider me."

Gamora studied carefully Mikan one more time. _'I don't have much choice, do I?'_ sighed internally the former assassin. The Alice, sensing Gamora's resilience, deactivated her Shadow Manipulation, not before throwing a warm smile to her new ally.

* * *

 **AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA**

 **A.N:**

 **I really hope that you have enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Please review and tell me what you think of this new chapter ! ^^**

 **I apologize once again about this awfully long delay. I am conscious that many of you are made at me for it and I am truly remorseful about it. Take care my friends, enjoy the New Year and Christmas Fests and see you soon for another chapter of this fanfiction.**


	10. Of Battles and Temptation:

**Hi there! I've finished the tenth chapter! I truly hope you'll enjoy it :)**

 **So, firstly, a big thanks to** krystal lazuli **for beta-reading this chapter!  
**

 **A big thanks to** chivini, Cutie'Sana, gaellefrischknecht, GAwriter, HarumiMisaki,la030902, Lunar Wave, MCU-Lover, Maniiikz, Miko 56, nutsoverteas, Poosa-ard, Siatru, SIMON80420, snakeyeeees, SupergodzillaSailorCosmos, theflowerblooms **,** **for favoriting/following this story! I also wanted to thank the guest** Harmony **;)**

 ** **I am truly enjoying writing this story! I hope you like it as much as I do! :)****

 **Please review and tell me what you think about it! Constructive criticism is always welcome, it allows me to take your critics into consideration and helps me better this story and my writing.  
**

 ** **Disclaimer: I do not own neither Gakuen Alice, which belongs to Tachibana Higuchi, nor Avengers, which belongs to Marvel and even less Harry Potter, which is the work of the wonderful J.K.R. I wouldn't be writing fanfictions otherwhise! However I do own the plot and my OCs characters of course.****

 **Chapter 10: Of Battles and Temptation:**

Loki and Stephen tensed simultaneously, as neither could sense the Orb's presence on Knowhere anymore.

"Mikan. She must have used her Space Distortion Alice to retrieve it." Stephen explained, aware that Loki was still new to her powers.

The Asgardian Sorcerer only nodded, while trying in vain to retrace the Alice's spiritual trail. _'I can only sense her clones!'_ Loki thought, frustrated, unwilling to admit his inability to locate his _Little One_. However, Stephen knew better than anyone that when Mikan used some of her Alices or even if she had stepped inside the Mirror Dimension, she was able to conceal her spiritual presence. And the lone fact of spotting two of her Doppelgangers still fighting at Thor's side reassured him of her welfare.

"The last time I saw her, she was chasing after Gamora and Nebula. I'll take Gamora, you go for Nebula."

Stephen tried to ignore Loki's imperious tone and couldn't help but remind him that he didn't knew who he was supposed to go after: "Nebula?"

Loki kept himself from rolling his eyes. Not willing to waste any more time, the god of Lies and Mischiefs opted for the most effective solution. Placing his hand on Stephen's forehead, Loki showed him the vision of the two Thanos' daughters. "It's the blue one."

Nodding to this, Stephen used a portal to appear on the highest spot on Knowhere. Now that he knew exactly who he was looking for, he uttered a few complex incantations to locate the woman warrior: Nebula was still onboard her Necrocraft, flying all over Knowhere to find the girl who stole the Orb from her.

"By the Chain of Krakkan!" Stephen uttered, conjuring long and strong golden chains that constricted Nebula's spaceship. Realizing that Mikan was nowhere at her side, Stephen released the Necrocraft, letting it crash heavily on the ground.

Trying in vain to locate Gamora, Stephen casted the same spell he had used to find her sister. Sadly, there was no trace of her too.

"Where are you, Mikan?" Doctor Strange wondered in a murmur, hoping that his friend was not facing any kind of danger.

* * *

" _Confrigo_!" Luna shouted, reducing to pieces two Sakaarans soldiers about to kill Luca. The latter nodded thankfully at her, using one of the guns he had picked up to shoot down their assailants. His Alice wasn't the most useful one on battles and he refused to involve any of his animal friends into this.

Back to back, both friends assured each other defense. Luna casting a large variety of offensive and defensive spells, and Luca using more primitive offensive ways, they were slowly but surely taking the upper hand on the battle. Especially with Mikan's two Doppelgangers and the tree humanoid fighting at their side.

Meaning while, Thor had given Drax the Destroyer his chance to battle the murderer of his wife and daughter. He had respected his need to avenge them. However, now that Drax lay unconscious on the hard ground, it was finally the time to get involved.

To his frustration, the god of Thunder, who usually would have enjoyed to be served a battle on a silver platter, knew that he had no time to waste fighting an entire army of Sakaarans and their Kree leader. Especially since Mikan and Loki should have had, by now, enough time to leave Knowhere, and the fact that the Lady's clones were fighting by their side. Therefore, Thor had to make it quick.

"Now that I am done with this incompetent, it is time for the real game to start." Ronan smirked, looking haughtily upon Drax's unconscious figure.

"I hardly think so! You are barely worth wasting my time." Thor replied, triggering the Zealot's anger, who pointed his Hammer at him.

Thor avoided a concussive blast out of Ronan's Cosmi-Rod and determined to put an end to this fanatic's nonsense, Thor spun Mjolnir and threw it at him. Unleashing furious thunder blasts in its way. The Asgardian's Hammer hit Ronan straight on the chest, leaving him to gasp for air.

"Nice hammer! But mine is better." Thor mocked who had gathered Cosmi-Rod to examine it.

Not giving time to Ronan to raise up from the ground, Thor lifted him and punched him square on the jaw. His grunts of pain rung like music in Thor's ears.

As Thor was ready to put an end to the miserable being's life, he was taken by surprise when Nebula's Necrocraft crashed heavily on them. Violently dragging Thor and Ronan beneath her spaceship, Nebula threw herself out of it. Landing painfully on the ground, the Lumophoid was pinned down by the shockwave of the explosion that followed.

Groaning loudly, Thor lifted the heavy spaceship crushing him. With a jolt, he realized some strands of his hair along with his cape had caught on fire, so he could quickly extinguish the flames.

" _Incarcerous_!" surprised by the closeness of Luna's voice, Thor witnessed tight ropes binding Ronan's unconscious body. The Asgardian Prince nodded at the Midgardian witch and Luna threw him a little smile of her own.

Resuming his attention to Nebula, Thor posed his calculating gaze on her. Unlike what most people thought of him, he wasn't an ignorant. The golden son of Odin was well aware of Nebula's stature as one of Thanos' children. If Ronan wasn't a man he could consider as a real opponent, Nebula and himself were playing on the same level.

With a small smirk, Thor closed slowly the distance between him and Nebula, as she moved in circular motions around him, looking for any weakness to use against him. Pulling out her electrified batons, Nebula opted for the offensive, speed and flexibility on her side. Using her first baton to block Thor's motion to conjure Mjolnir, she stabbed him on the sides with the second, smirked at the sight of a god of Thunder being electrified.

Snapping Nebula's first baton in two, Thor aimed at her head. Dodging the blow, the Lumophoid bent down and used it as an opportunity to pull her baton out of Thor's body. Avoiding narrowly another hit, Nebula aimed with her right leg towards the lower part of his body. Then, taking advantage of the pain Thor was in, landed another blow square on his jaw.

Blocking the next attack, Thor trapped in his strong grip Nebula's right hand and ripped her second electrified baton out of her grasp. Elbowing him on the jaw, Nebula freed herself, but she hadn't the time to escape Thor's fist. Losing her balance, Nebula fell on the ground.

Ready to strike again, Nebula's attack was cut short by Mjolnir striking her on the head, the shock so violent it had broken her jaw.

Nebula in tremendous pain, couldn't even afford to cry, the motion too hurtful to try. Closing her eyes, the Lumophoid had no choice but to wait for the pain to go away. Nebula's cybernetic implants helped to repair her within moments, twisting her arm and jaw back into place. Only on such instants was she thankful for Thanos' cruel manipulations of her body. As she believed to recognize in Thor the same disgusted look people threw her after they had witnessed her regeneration abilities, Nebula grunted angrily, frustrated by the Hammer that was pinning her down to the ground.

One hand at his sides and panting, Thor observed with a small smirk his Midgardian friends, Groot and Drax, who had been reanimated by the latter, fighting on the battlefield. Now that Nebula and Ronan where lying powerless on the ground, defeated, fighting what had remained of Ronan's army would be child's play.

* * *

Mikan's tensed posture relaxed slightly. A change that didn't go unnoticed by Gamora. The latter, however, was still puzzled by the Alice's odd behavior, so she waited patiently for her to explain herself.

"Thor has defeated Ronan and your sister. It won't take them much longer before they end the rest of his army." Mikan stated, mainly reassured by Luca's wellbeing. Indeed, as much as she valued his courage, he wasn't one for battles.

"You still haven't told me where you've sent us." Gamora reminded her, slightly disturbed by the weirdness of the room they had appeared into. Gamora couldn't help but feel uncomfortable with the walls and their surroundings were constantly moving in strange and threatening motions around them.

"We're in the Mirror Dimension, a place safe from unrequited attention."

The Zehoberei raised a cunning silvery eyebrow; quite unwilling to start such a conversation with a woman she had just met. Mikan perfectly understanding the reasons behind Gamora's reluctance to trust her, chose to start the exchange with her trump card:

"I've destroyed the Infinity Gauntlet." The young woman admitted.

To Mikan's satisfaction, Gamora gasped, taken by surprise by the revelation. Gamora closed the distance between herself and Mikan, her eyes glimmering with a sentiment that even the young Earthian couldn't determine. Somehow, deep down, even though she couldn't quite explain why herself, Gamora knew Mikan was telling her the truth. She knew that in this stranger's hands, the Orb would be in safer place than in her father's or the Collector's.

' _For twenty years of my life, I've been raised by Thanos and, until very recently, helped him achieve his goal. I've killed thousands to satisfy his beliefs. It has earned me several aliases including the deadliest woman in the Galaxy._ ' Gamora, thought, disgusted by the love that she was still feeling toward her adoptive father and the mass murderer he had turned her into. ' _If this girl has truly destroyed the Gauntlet and does wholeheartedly want to protect the Stones, then I should give her a chance. Maybe this will help, even just a little, redeem me of my past mistakes._ '

"I've destroyed the Infinity Gauntlet, Gamora." Mikan repeated, in a murmur. "I am in possession of two Alices that only appears if the chance of the Infinity Stones to be reunited is at its highest. My only goal is to safeguard the Gems, not to collect them." Mikan paused, locking eyes with Gamora. "You must know better than I do your father's intentions to gather them. This is the reason why I am asking you this: are you aware of any other means that Thanos could use to harness the power of the Stones?" The Alice asked, with the horrible gut feeling the answer would be an affirmative.

"You see… In his own twisted, psychopathic, deranged mind, Thanos believes that it is his duty to bring stability to the Universe. Just as he has done to my home planet, the combined power of the Stones will allow him to kill half of the Universe in a single snap of his fingers." Gamora explained, stressing her point by snapping her fingers. "Since you claim to have destroyed the Gauntlet, I don't think he requires the help of his Lady Death before he tried every other possibility. I have never heard of any other Artefact able to harness such a power as those of the Stones… But if there is any, Thanos will not hesitate to kill thousands, billions to get it."

Mikan shivered, more than ever unsure of her capability of protecting the Stones from such a powerful and fearsome being.

"I see... I see, indeed. Gamora, now that Loki has entirely betrayed him and after Ronan's failure, how do you think he'll react?"

Gamora opened her mouth, before closing it soon afterwards. How was her mad man of a father going to react? She didn't even know herself! Mad people weren't predictable. Mad people weren't predictable, and this weakness of his was their biggest disadvantage. Furthermore, Thanos had always liked to keep his cards close to his chest, not even trusting her entirely to his plans.

"To be honest, I have no idea. For reasons that are unknown to me, it just seems that he is waiting for something to happen. I never understood what or who dissuaded him from going after the Stones directly by himself." Gamora admitted.

Mikan nodded, pensive. Something was telling her that it was rather someone and not something that was keeping Thanos from coming after the Infinity Gems. Yet, the young Alice had a hard time imagining a being could be more powerful or threatening than what legends claimed Thanos to be. At this lone thought, shivers ran through her spine.

Understanding that the woman facing her had already told her everything she knew about her adoptive father's plans, Mikan traced her right hand in a circular pattern and exited the Mirror Dimension, followed closely by Gamora.

"Well, I suppose it's a fare – Ah!" Caught off guard and powerless over the overwhelming force conjuring her, Mikan screamed before she disappeared before Gamora's wide eyes.

* * *

With a small yelp, Mikan closed her eyes as the ground approached dangerously. To her surprise, she didn't land heavily as she had expected to. Opening her eyes slowly, Mikan realized that she had been caught by Loki's strong arms. When she met his icy cold gaze, the hairs on the back of her neck rose up and Mikan refrained herself from shivering. The young woman could sense frustration and what looked like a small inquietude flowing through him. Raising a surprised eyebrow at the latter feeling, Mikan's heart began to pound furiously in her chest as the young woman couldn't help but wonder if it was her who had been the cause of his concern. However, without betraying any of his emotions or thoughts on the matter, Loki posed Mikan gently on her feet, blatantly ignoring Stephen staring at them.

To Mikan's most embarrassment, she had been too caught up in Loki's evergreen eyes to neither realize her friend's presence, nor to notice the fact they had already left Knowhere. Trying in vain to ignore Stephen's small knowing smirk and Loki's slight amusement at her flushed face, Mikan sighed helplessly. Aware that the two men were expecting her to explain herself on her long disappearance, Mikan silently used her Space Distortion Alice to conjure the Orb before them.

"I have managed to get it. I've also had a little talk with Gamora." Mikan paused, taking a small breath. "She thinks that something or someone is keeping Thanos from getting the Stones by himself. Do any of you happen to have a guess on what or who it could be?"

"Odin." affirmed Loki, whose eyes had darkened by the shadow of unpleasant memories. To him, the answer couldn't be more obvious. "Odin Borson is the only being that could intimidate Thanos. As long as he is alive, he won't severely mess with the Nine Realms."

"What do you exactly mean by 'severely mess', Loki?" Stephen asked, annoyed by his lack of information and therefore his constant need to request Loki for explications.

"Well, the Infinity Gauntlet is destroyed, the Mind Stone is on Midgard, you are the current guardian of the Time Stone, the Tesseract is well-kept in Odin's Vault and in your hands lays the Orb. All I mean to say is that, for now, we do not have much to worry about. Unless he is granted Death's help, which he probably won't look for, Thanos won't make any move before Odin's death." Loki insisted.

Mikan and Stephen exchanged dubious looks: was Thanos really going to quieten his hunger for power after already two failed attempts to retrieve the Stones?

"If you say so…" whispered Mikan, still unsure.

The young woman used her Space Distortion to store the Orb.

"Now that you have secured the Stone, just as you wished, what do you intend to do with it?" Loki inquired, curious to know what his _Little One_ 's plans were.

Mikan tilted her head, thinking for one instant before smiling satisfied. "The Stone is safe within my Space Distortion. I've secured it with the same enchantments Stephen used to protect the Eye. And… If I were to die, it would forever become unreachable."

Unwittingly, Stephen tensed at Mikan's words. Only a selected few (in other words the Ancient One, Mordo and himself), knew about Mikan's conditions: her human body was too weak to contain the enormous quantity of Alices within it, the worst being the Corrosion one. The young woman was paying to a high price the enormous powers in her possession and even the techniques the Ancient One taught her weren't enough to ensure Mikan's dying body a longer lifespan. And, by the way Loki was attentively looking at his younger friend, Stephen knew that the observant Asgardian god of Mischief had put two and two together too. Indeed, for the first time, Loki was reflecting on how much his _Little One_ 's life was endangered. _'Humans are so fragile, they die in heartbeat. She is no different to the members of her race, no matter how powerful she is… And even, her powers are killing her slowly.'_

Just as if she had guessed the flow of his thoughts, Mikan threw him a small smile. Loki couldn't decide whether she was insouciant, stupid or both. She had told him that she was only 24 years old and, from what he had already seen, he wouldn't give her more than two or three more years to live. Had she just accepted this fact? How could she not be worried by such a pitiful fate? Didn't she even crave for more? Truly, Loki didn't know if he should rather be impressed by how unfazed the young Midgardian woman was by her situation, or shame her for it.

Lost in their thoughts, neither had witnessed Mikan's amusement at them. Finally, their attentions were brought back by her question: "Well, we've secured the Orb and we have no idea of where the Reality Stone is. So, what do we do now?"

"Well, it seems to me that I have fulfilled my part of the bargain. It is now your turn to take care of your part of the deal, _Little One_." Loki reminded her.

"Which is?"

"Stephen, Loki wants me to translate for him three books that belonged to Allice." Mikan answered him. This made her realize, with a heavy heart, that he was no longer needed there.

Stephen had come to the same conclusion. Indeed, if Loki was right, it would leave them some time before Thanos' next move. Therefore, he would be way more useful on Earth than in a lost planet of the Andromeda Galaxy, where all he could do was watch Loki and Mikan making eyes at each other.

"Loki, bring me back to Kamar-Taj." Stephen simply ordered. Loki, too pleased to finally get rid of the Sorcerer's undesired presence, chose to ignore Stephen's demanding tone. Loki placed himself at Stephen's height and disappeared with him.

All by herself in the grand mansion, Mikan had finally the opportunity to properly look around the place. She was already familiar with the enormous library and the charmed dining room. She discovered several bedrooms, including the one in which Loki had nursed her. One room stood out, as it was the only one she found locked, keeping all its secrets away from her curious eyes. So, Mikan assumed it to be Loki's chambers. No matter how hard she tried, kitchens were nowhere to be found. Resuming her exploration, Mikan quickly went around what seemed to be a training facility, before finally entering a vast greenhouse. The latter held in its center a radiant golden apple tree. Attracted by the vividness of the apples, Mikan advanced slowly toward the tree, taking the time to study the other plants around her. Most of them radiated a special energy and probably concealed several magical properties.

When she finally reached the apple tree, Mikan felt the desperate need to taste one, just as if she had been bewitched. Too short, the Alice had to stand up on her tiptoe to collect an apple. Surprised by the image of her reflection on it, the charm broke.

" _Little One_ , these are Idunn's Golden Apples. They are what grant us our youth, vigor and _immortality_."

Startled by Loki's velvet voice, Mikan turned around, still holding the apple halfway to her lips. He had changed from his impressive leather outfit and extravagant horned helmet for slightly humbler but nevertheless refined clothes. As he began moving towards her, slowly closing the distance between them, Mikan had all the time to appreciate his elegant, tall, slender figure, his words still playing in her mind, like a sweet temptation. In her hand laid a remedy to her health problems, a possible solace to the constant pain her body was in. _'At the high price of immortality.'_ Loki arched an elegant eyebrow as he reached his _Little One_ , a small smirk curved his lips, his eyes roving over her, predatory.

"One bite. One bite and all your problems will be gone." he whispered silkily, so close she could sense his breath on her neck. "You have so much potential, _Mikan_. Think of what you could achieve if you become immortal. Of what we would accomplish together. Join me and you will never be alone again." Loki promised, his voice just above a whisper, sowing temptation in her mind. _'Become mine.'_

Mikan's back touched the trunk of the tree and the young woman realized she had unconsciously been stepping back. Loki leaned in closer, trapping Mikan who felt like Eve being lured by the Serpent into eating the Forbidden Fruit. The woman stood rigid, captivated by his gaze, her face flushed with embarrassment and desire, her inner conflict rendering her unreasonable. His cold, elegant fingers caressed her cheek. Mikan closed her eyes, escaping his mesmerizing gaze, breaking the contact. This brought her back to her right mind. A wave of panic filled her heart. She had been so close to committing an irreparable mistake!

Taking Loki's hand in hers, she could feel his surprise, aberration and indignation when she left the golden apple in it. He didn't even try to keep his face composed. His lips parted in surprise and his eyebrows joined up in a frown, he looked at her flabbergasted.

"You used mental manipulation on me!" Mikan accused, furious at him.

"I was only helping you make the right choice." Loki countered.

"The right choice?! By imposing upon me a life of immortality and tinkering with my mind!"

"The charms on this tree attract mortals. Somehow, you managed to outside its' control. I have only shown you mercy. Do you truly have so little ambitions? What are two or three more years to live in comparison to an immortal life!"

"And what kind of life would that be? Helping you accomplish your schemes? _Becoming your queen?_ " Mikan scoffed.

"This sounds more appealing than what fate has in store for you, don't you think?" Loki replied haughtily.

"If you truly think so, then I feel sorry for you." Mikan fought back, triggering his anger. Moving away from him, she continued: "I am not like you, Loki. I don't crave for power or recognition. Those I have were bestowed to me."

Blocking her way, Loki was now facing her fully. Unfazed by his cold, heartless laugh, Mikan stared back at him, looking at him for the man he truly was.

"Do you even realize how much you could benefit from this, _Little One_? Are you really going to turn down such a golden opportunity?"

"Yes." Mikan answered firmly. On these words, the young woman exited the greenhouse quickly and retired to her room, leaving a feeling of indignation and, to his surprise, a great emptiness in Loki's heart.

* * *

His back and his head were hurting like hell. Where was he?

Harry slowly sat on the edge of the full-size bed he woke up in. It took him time to recognize the sterile room he had been assigned in the Helicarrier a week ago and even more to realize he had no idea of how he had landed there. Harry went dead still. The last thing he remembered was paying a visit to Hermione to get more information about Kamar-Taj. He had no recollection of what had happened afterwards.

His eyes searched for the only ornament of the room, a small clock. It read 03:00 am. A horrible sentiment ran through his veins. What had happened in these thirteen hours of complete abyss?

Harry couldn't sit passively any longer. He had to find out what had happened to him, to make sure his teammates and Luna were safe. Making his way to the meeting room, Harry was thankful for the never dormant ship. When he stepped inside, he found Tony, Steve and Fury engaged in a conversation. Focusing his attention at Steve, who seemed to be not very preoccupied, Harry relaxed a little bit.

"The sleeping beauty has finally woken up!" Tony smirked, raising the nearly empty glass of strong whiskey he was holding.

"Shut up, Stark!" Three voices responded nearly in unison, earning them a chuckle.

The billionaire emptied his glass in one go before asking the one question Harry was incapable of answering to: "What happened to you in Kamar-Taj?"

"I don't remember anything." Harry sighed. "Are the others OK? How did the mission go? And where is Luna?"

"Wow! Slow it down, princess. One question at a time!"

Rolling his eyes at Tony, Harry turned at Steve for answers.

"We were tricked into the New York Sanctum. Two hours later, a portal made you appear unconscious in this room. As for your last question, no matter how much I tried to talk her out of it, Luna insisted to join the Hotaru, Jane, Luca and Thor to assist them in their missions on Asgard and Knowhere."

"She did, didn't she?" Harry thought aloud, with a fond smile. None other than him could be more aware of Luna's determined nature. "Is there any information on how it is going out there?" He asked curious, pointing at the starry sky.

"No. But don't worry, Harry. Luna will be safe with Thor." Steve tried to reassure the wizard.

"Oh, Luna is a very capable woman! She is fiercer than she looks like." Harry chuckled, still remembering the single time he ever saw her truly get mad at someone, who unfortunately happened to be none other than himself.

"Back to the main focus of your mission, Potter, is there any wizarding trick that could help restore your memories of the events?" Fury asked.

The first thought that crossed Harry's mind was to use a pensieve. However, since he had no recollection of the events, it wouldn't be of much help. Since Shacklebolt had asked him to preserve the secrecy of his missions within S.H.I.E.L.D, going to St. Mungo's would only happen as a last resort. He had no other solutions than to ask for Hermione's advices on the matter.

"I'll see what I can do." Harry replied before Disapparating in a loud pop.

Apparating inside Ron and Hermione's living room, Harry was thankful for the time difference as he found the happily married couple cuddled on a sofa. Neither of them was surprised by his unexpected apparition in their home. By now they had been too accustomed by the twins' or Molly's sudden but welcome intrusions for that.

"Good morning, Harry." Hermione smiled, raising her head from the book she was reading to face him fully.

Ron only nodded at him, a small smile playing on his lips, wondering where he and Luna had disappeared for a whole week without any warning.

"So, having a good time with Luna?" The ginger head taunted his friend, with a knowing smirk.

"Really, Ronald?" His wife sighed. Hermione tilted her head back to observe him from below. Ron's smile only widened and he gave her a sweet kiss before winking at Harry, who made a show of rolling his eyes at his childhood friends.

"Ron, there is nothing going on between us." Harry assured, slightly on the defensive.

"I won't buy any of this excursion bullshit Harry. Anyone can see there is more there than a close friendship between the two of you. Bloody hell, Harry you're even living together!" Ron cried out. "You're just in denial."

Harry refused to reply to him. After all, he couldn't even explain the strange relationship he shared with Luna. Shaking off his own doubts, Harry recalled the reason of his visit.

"Ron, Luna and I are working on a special mission Shacklebolt assigned us. Basically, we are assisting and infiltrating a special organization named S.H.I.E.L.D. Yesterday, I was assigned a mission which went rather badly. On top of that, my memories of the events were stolen!" Harry explained succinctly.

"And Luna, is she alright?" Hermione wondered, a little worried about their dreamy friend.

"To be honest, I have no idea. I hope she is. She followed Thor, two Alices and Jane on Asgard."

Hermione refrained herself from gasping, and couldn't help but feel a little envious of Luna. What a fantastic opportunity she was given!

"I see… And, you don't even remember a single thing of what happened to you?" Ron asked, dumbfounded.

"No." Harry sighed. "I woke up with a bruised back and a headache. I have small scratches too. So, there must have been a confrontation. I don't want to go to St. Mungo's. I hoped you could help me find a solution." He admitted.

"Did you try to use a Reverse Spell? This could at least help you determine the most recent spells your wand cast." Ron proposed.

"Ron, that is a brilliant idea!" Hermione exclaimed with a beaming smile.

"Always the tone of surprise!" he smirked at her. She gently elbowed him on his sides. The couple stood up and reached Harry's side, and the Golden Trio Apparated in a meadow. It would lead to less complications this way.

Handing his wand to Hermione, Harry could only watch his friends take the control of the situation as they cast the several spells and charms needed to reveal the list of the last spells he used. It took some time but their efforts were rewarded.

"You used the Blasting Spell, the Reductor Curse, the Freezing Charm, Apparition, but this one doesn't really count isn't?" Ron stated before looking more interested at his final discovery. "Harry, you might be interested to know the last spell you cast before Apparition was a Tracking Spell."

* * *

Mikan sat on her bed, as she tried to meditate. It had been the only way she found to free her mind of her tumultuous thoughts, to calm her anger down. For the second time, the SilverTongue had nearly gotten her. Even her Alices couldn't protect her from his lures and his charms. This made her feel angry, powerless and vulnerable. Realizing her anxiety building, Mikan tried to calm her breathing. Taking in a long inhalation, she breathed slowly through her nose, filling her lungs. Then, she held her breath to the count of three. _'One, two, three._ ' Mikan exhaled slowly through her pursed lips, relaxing the muscles of her face, jaw, shoulders and stomach. The young woman kept doing this exercise until she completely overcame her stress.

The tension finally gone, Mikan's mind drifted once again to her disagreeable encounter with Loki in the greenhouse. When she thought about it more calmly, Mikan realized that, astonishingly, he truly believed he was doing her a favor. _'Loki sensed I wouldn't do it. He knew that it would go against my beliefs, but he did it anyway. He entered so easily in my mind! He had me entirely in his control.'_ She shivered. However, he had underestimated her and she only escaped thanks to his overconfidence. Mikan sighed. Maybe for once luck was on her side. It would be a first!

Given the impossibility to fall asleep and discovering she was famished, Mikan took a quick shower, changed her clothes and finally left her room to walk towards the dining room. Entering, she noticed an appetizing breakfast comprised of many of her favorites foods waiting for her on the table. Sometimes, food was the only remedy for all ills! Full and in better mood, Mikan was torn between returning back to her chambers or going to the library where facing Loki would be unavoidable. _'Hiding will lead you nowhere Mikan.'_ Taking in a deep breath, Mikan headed to the enormous library. When she reached its noble double wooden carved door, she wavered for a second before pushing it open. She had made a good guess. Indeed, the Trickster was standing there.

Whether her presence went unnoticed or he refused to acknowledge it, Mikan couldn't decide. She stood for a moment at the door, observing him in silence. Finally, picking up a book at random, she made it to the center of the library and sat at the round table that encircled the Sakura Tree. It had been a bad decision, she couldn't even recognize the language the book was written in. Instead, she focused her attention at its magnificent illustrations, attempting to decipher their meaning.

Meanwhile, Loki caressed the wooden shelf in front of him, his eyes not paying much attention to the books it was holding. _'If you truly think so, then I feel sorry for you.'_ Indeed, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't understand the mortal's choice. Who would trade a life of immortality, a life that would allow her to achieve feats she couldn't even dream of, for one that would lead her to an impending death? There was no rational explanation behind it. _'Sentiments then. She is no different than her peers. So pathetic!'_

Noticing her, Loki turned on his heels to face Mikan. He hadn't heard her enter the room. Loki wondered how long she had been sitting there. She wasn't looking at him and her anger seemed to have cooled down.

"I thought you were still brooding in your room." Loki admitted.

Raising her head out of the book that had captivated all her attention, Mikan looked genuinely surprised as Loki took a seat beside her. Slowy comprehending his words, she shrugged her shoulders.

"I am not very good at playing hide-and-seek anyway." Mikan responded, her voice distant. The young woman searched in his eyes any kind of remorse but failed at finding any. He seemed to be holding on to the belief she was only a stupid, pathetic mortal. Folding her hands on her chest, Mikan cocked her head to the side, smirking self-satisfied. _'He might consider me an idiot, but right now he is reduced to having to request me for help.'_

Locking their eyes for the umpteenth time in a stubborn staring contest, Mikan waited patiently for him to do her the honors. A pleasure Loki wasn't willing to offer.

"You are a challenge _Little One_. I appreciate this in a woman." Loki finally observed with a charming smile.

"Flattery will lead you nowhere, Loki." Mikan responded. Still, unbeknownst to her, a small smile had flourished on her lips.

"You shouldn't bet on that." He replied, his voice smooth and seductive. Mikan's heart skipped a beat.

"Then, you're just being overconfident!"

"Am I when your heartbeat and flushing face are saying otherwise?" Loki asked too innocently.

Mikan choked, in loss of words and he chuckled at her, too self-satisfied to her own liking. Embarrassed, she huffed at him, self-conscious of her childish behavior.

With one movement of his hands, Loki conjured a piece of parchment, an ink bottle, a quill, and the first book he wanted Mikan to translate: The History of the Nine Realms. In return, she used Space Distortion to reveal a pen and two notebooks, one empty, the other containing the translation of The personal Diary of Sir Nicholas Flamel. She handed her work over to Loki and he placed his book in front of her.

With a mutual accord, they got down to work silently, side by side, putting all disagreements aside as they joined their wits in this teamwork. Secretly enjoying each other's company.

* * *

 **AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA**

 **A.N:**

 **I really hope that you have enjoyed this chapter!  
**

 **Please review and tell me what you think of this new chapter ! ^^**

 **P.S: I am going to enter a two weeks period full of exams, so there might be a little delay of one week or two til the next chapter's publication. Wish me luck!**


	11. To Friendship:

**Hi there! Here is the eleventh chapter! I truly hope you'll enjoy it :)**

 **Once again, a big thanks to** krystal lazuli **for beta-reading this chapter!  
**

 **Welcome to the new followers,** adara2006 **and** MmsMcmillen. **I thank you for the chance you are willing to give to my story and I hope this chapter won't disappoint you :)**

 **A big thanks to** chivini, Cutie'Sana, gaellefrischknecht, GAwriter, HarumiMisaki,la030902, Lunar Wave, MCU-Lover, Maniiikz, Miko 56, nutsoverteas, Poosa-ard, Siatru, SIMON80420, snakeyeeees, SupergodzillaSailorCosmos, theflowerblooms **,** **for favoriting/following this story! I also wanted to thank the guest** Harmony **;)**

 **Please review and tell me what you think about it! Constructive criticism is always welcome, it allows me to take your critics into consideration and helps me better this story and my writing.  
**

 ** **Disclaimer: I do not own neither Gakuen Alice, which belongs to Tachibana Higuchi, nor Avengers, which belongs to Marvel and even less Harry Potter, which is the work of the wonderful J.K.R. I wouldn't be writing fanfictions otherwhise! However I do own the plot and my OCs characters of course.****

 **Chapter 11: To Friendship:**

"When did Loki start learning magic?"

"He was of a very young age when I began teaching him." Frigga smiled in a composed voice. "Loki is three hundred years Thor's cadet. While my oldest son showed early gifts for the art of war, Loki always favorited wit to direct confrontation. He knew that words could be sharper than weapons and persuasion more fruitful than terror and battles. I knew teaching him Magic would help him develop his talents for it is an art of finding the words that will resonate in synchrony with a person or an object in the purpose of triggering the aimed effect on it. Magic is a game of wits and observation and my son excels at it. In fact, Loki is so talented he developed his own spells, improved our practice of it and learned how to escape Heimdall's all-sight."

Hotaru and Jane silently nodded to Frigga, each one taking careful notice of the Queen Mother's words.

"Doesn't practicing magic leave some kind of personal trace? If Thor was able to perceive Asgardian magic flow in Mikan, would you be able, for instance, to identify it's _'owner'_?" Jane asked her, curious, remembering a discussion between Harry, Luna and herself on their Ministry of Magic and the Trace.

Frigga smirked, posing an amused gaze upon the two endearing Midgardian geniuses facing her. "Actually, yes I do. Hotaru, my child, I caught a glimpse of the same magical flow in you and your friend as soon as we met in Heimdall's Observatory. It's Allice's. A powerful Sorcerer who taught me the art of harnessing Magic. It seems he gifted you, Midgardians, of some of his creations. I must say, even though Loki has never met him, that I am certain he perceived it too. This must be the reason why he took an interest in the young Lady he kidnapped." Frigga's brown eyes darkened. "Would you please tell me more about your little friend?"

Hotaru's face paled slightly.

"It has been twelve years since I last saw Mikan. But the girl I knew was kind, brave and extremely generous. Very naïve too. She was drawn to her peers' darkness but she had a particular gift in showing them the way back to the light." Hotaru paused, hating herself for getting emotional at the sweet and sad memories of her childhood she shared with Mikan. "Luna told me that those traits of her didn't change, so I believe Loki has found in Mikan a good ally but not an easy target to his lures. Mikan has a will of iron and would never put others' lives in danger for selfish reasons."

"I see…" Frigga whispered, her heart aching. _'My son is a lost soul, he doesn't know who he is anymore. What an irony! He is the_ god of Lies and Mischief _and yet he lived in a lie for 2400 years! I understand this destroyed him, but… if Jane was able to change Thor for the best, maybe… Maybe, if this little mortal is right, the Midgardian woman might help him find his way back to us again.'_

Frigga sighed and quickly recomposed herself, forbidding any tear to be shed. She was surprised by Jane's gentle hand placed on hers. Frigga squeezed it, thankful for her support. This was the moment Thor, Luna, Luca, Sif and the Warrior Three decided to enter the Queen Mother's study.

"Mother, Lady Imai." Thor bowed, closely followed by the company. "Jane." He smiled. "I just finished my report of our situation to the Allfather. I must admit I bring to you good and bad news. The good news is that we defeated and captured Ronan the Accuser and Nebula, daughter of Thanos. However, Loki, Mikan and a Midgardian Sorcerer, Guardian of the Time Stone, managed to retrieve the Orb and escape from us."

Both Hotaru and Frigga went still. Reaching out for his friend, Luca took her hand in his and quietly exited the room with her. He knew Hotaru would prefer them to talk about his encounter with their childhood friend in private. It would give her the comfort of avoiding a public display of her emotions.

After a short uncomfortable silence had settled in the room, Thor cleared his throat.

"Lady Sakura and Loki have managed to escape from us, but their ally returned to Midgard. And, even though Heimdall is unable to locate them, he overheard the Sorcerer's discussion with one of his fellows and he still claims we should not worry about their whereabouts or their possible schemes. Even though they are in the possession of the Orb!"

"I second Heimdall on that." Luna smiled indulgently at the frustrated god of Thunder. "I've literally seen every single memory contained in Mikan's head, I am certain that even if Loki can't be trusted she can."

Obviously, Luna's affirmation wasn't of much help, most of the people in the room having already witnessed or been a victim to Loki's manipulative ways.

"Believe me, my Lady, you don't know the power Loki has to control others' minds." Fandral warned her, catching her hand to place a gentle kiss on it.

Luna threw him a sweet dreamy smile, her wide silvery eyes not shying away from her first beliefs, mildly impressed by his charming ways. Fandral decided to ignore Volstagg and Hogun indiscreetly snickering at him or Sif's blatant roll of the eyes. The latter's nerves were frayed because of her jealousy for the Midgardian Thor was enamored with. As expected, she wore it nobly for her pride would never allow her to let her feelings influence her actions. However, for once, Sif was thankful for Thor's obliviousness on such sensitive matters. The woman warrior only nodded at her Queen's compassionate smile and tried her best to ignore Thor's not so discreet longing stares posed on Jane or the latter's embarrassment at those.

"Thor told us you are working on a way to trace Loki's magic?" Lady Sif asked rhetorically.

"Indeed. We are searching for a scientific approach to create a device able to track back his magical trace." Jane nodded, noticing Hotaru and Luca discreetly stepping back in the room. She kept herself from sighing as she couldn't help but feel sorry for the young duo, especially Hotaru. She had quickly understood why she had earned her Ice Queen nickname. Her implacable and adamant demeanor talked for itself. However, no matter how tall and graceful she stood among them, Jane wasn't oblivious to her paler cheeks and the slight redness in her mesmerizing violet eyes. She knew how heart wrenching it felt like to have a loved one on the other side of the field.

"Well, now if you please, we would like to resume our research." Hotaru firmly requested, in a polite tone.

Thor reached for Jane and took hold of both her hands in his. Leaning in to leave a gentle kiss on her forehead he whispered: "You are the cleverest woman I ever met, dear Jane. I know all you three will find a solution." Nodding to the rest of the group, he made his way out of the room leaving the scientist red from embarrassment trying her best to ignore their friend smirking at them as they followed him outside his mother's study or Fandral's bold whistle. Frigga rolled her eyes at her son's friend foolish behavior, a small smile on her lips.

"Let's get back to work."

* * *

In the vast library, only the sound of the smooth gliding of a quill and a pen across the paper could be heard. Loki and Mikan were sitting beside each other in a comfortable silence, the latter oblivious to the Asgardian's close attention posed on her.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Loki could discreetly notice Mikan's long brown hair tied in a bread that reached down below to her waist or the lines of the simple silk dress she had opted for in the tepid warmth of the library. The outfit subtly highlighted the harmonious curves of her body, barely revealing any inch of skin. Loki's gaze lingered on the details of Mikan's face; her hazel eyes were stubbornly staring at the signs covering The History of the Nine Realms' pages, her lips slightly pouting and her eyebrows were joined in a frustrated frown. Somehow, Loki couldn't help but find the image endearing. Unfortunately, Mikan's agreeable traits were giving him a harder time focusing on the textbook than he was supposed to. Fully aware he was heading straight in dangerous territories, Loki resumed his attention to her translations of Flamel's Diary.

One week had already passed since they had started studying Allice's legacy. Every day, they followed the same exact routine, which merely consisted of waking up early in the morning, going to the library and working together until late in the night. Every time, Mikan would find Loki installed before her while he always retired to his chambers after her. "You seem to forget my body doesn't have the same need as your kind's." He had only answered, guessing her question before she had even been given the chance to voice it. One day, the young woman came down with red eyes and a flushed face. It didn't take a genius to realize she had been crying all night. Loki had only raised a questioning yet slightly worried eyebrow, however, Mikan had preferred to shrug the matter off. Had he known better, Loki would have guessed the reason of his _Little One_ 's sorrows was her encounter with her childhood friend, Luca.

Thankfully, they hadn't fought once. Though this could be explained by their silent accord on trying to keep their discussions to the fewest words possible. Indeed, even though Mikan had started to feel more at ease in his presence (and, at times, came to even appreciate it), the tensions between them had just started to wear off. She still hadn't forgotten about the Golden Apple Tree incident nor had he fully assimilated her refusal to embrace immortality yet.

Mikan sighed, breaking the peaceful silence of the library. Staring at the page in front of her, her eyes were desperately roving over the incoherent nonsense filling it. Obviously, translating this book was going to be harder than Flamel's diary. It was easily going to take her a while to achieve it, at least a month or two. And, yet, she still hadn't made any important discovery… The book was just filled with rambling nonsense that both Loki and herself already knew.

The young woman sighed again, annoyed. When she started tapping her foot, it finally drew Loki's attention back to her. He noticed she had been focusing on the same page for a whole hour. It was a source of frustration he could easily relate to and he knew better than to let it build up. If these three weeks spent in Mikan's company had taught him anything about her, it was that she had the very bad tendency to act impulsively. Undeniably, Mikan would eventually reach the point of burning the book without giving it any second thought. Deciding it would be wiser to distract her out of her murderous intentions, Loki gently proposed: "What about a walk, _Little One_?"

His voice brought Mikan back from her thoughts. She quickly considered the proposition _'It ain't a bad idea. After all, I am truly in the need of a break right now...'_ Her decision made, Mikan closed the book in a sharp movement and stood tall before following Loki's steps outside the library's walls, wondering where they were heading to.

Loki casually climbed the stairs of the three floors mansion, closely followed by Mikan whose curiosity had been tickled. The young woman took the opportunity to throw quick peeks at Loki's back as his noble outfit molded each of his muscles' motions, highlighting his strong features. He wore his black hair back which allowed Mikan to notice it was slightly longer than when she first met him. Little curls had started to appear on it. Mikan bit her lower lip and shook her head, thankful that he wasn't paying much to her, or rather that he pretended not to.

Soon enough, Mikan realized they were heading towards the basement's roof. As Loki pushed the last door separating them from it, Mikan held her breath in awe. A giant glass dome protected the plants covered roof from the planet's hostile environment. The young woman was amazed by the contrast of the lifeless lands surrounding Allice's mansion, drought by the three hot suns beating down on it, and the beautiful, majestic garden on its roof.

"Magnificent." Mikan sighed, a little smile on her face. Loki only nodded to her while taking a seat on one of the terrace's banks. He positioned himself comfortably, placing an ankle on his knee. The young woman observed him for a moment. His aura was inviting. Taking in a deep breath, Mikan smiled at him and sat nonchalantly beside him, wondering how she hadn't found the place sooner.

"Our engagement is going to last for a very certain long time _Little One_. It'll be more pleasant if we stop ignoring each other and start to get to know one another." Loki affirmed, studying closely Mikan. The latter threw him a skeptical look, but decided to play along.

"Fine." Mikan gave in, crossing her arms on her chest and tilting her head to observe the SilverTongue more attentively. "It seems to me we haven't finished the game you started in your cell, so what about we resume play?"

"Well, then would you do the honors?" Loki smirked.

Mikan nodded, placing her forefinger on her chin, thinking quickly on what she could ask him.

"What was the first lie you ever told?" The young woman smiled as Loki had been obviously taken aback by the banality of her question. Going through thousands of years of memories, he reflected on his answer.

"I am 2400 years old young lady, I cannot give you a precise answer. Though, I remember taking pride in the first time I fooled Frigga and Odin into believing Thor and I weren't the ones who stole food from the kitchen." Loki smirked.

"You were, weren't you?" Mikan chuckled softly, easily picturing younger versions of Thor and Loki sneaking in the royal kitchens, searching for the sweets their mother had hidden out of their reach, the complicit and excited glances they would give each other when they finally uncovered the so desired and somehow deserved pastries.

"However, I must be precise in saying that, even though I am often called the Liesmith or the god of Lies and Mischiefs, I prefer the sobriquet of SilverTongue. I do not craft untruths, _Little One_ : I challenge my listener' assumptions."

A small smile curved Mikan's lips. She leaned back and rested her elbows on the back of the bench. "Clever. I suppose the worst lies are those that are true."

"Indeed. Although I shall say it does help that people are too imperceptive to look at the big picture of what is around them and prefer to dwell in their own preconceptions."

"I see…"

"My turn then." Mikan's smile faded slightly off her face and she looked cautiously at Loki, more curious than apprehensive. "When were you introduced to the Masters of Mystic Arts?"

"Four years ago." Mikan responded, her shoulders a little bit more relaxed. "It was a bit of a coincidence, really." She laughed softly. "I just happened to be looking out for information on Alices in Nepal when I met Master Hamir there. One thing led to another and I suddenly found myself at Kamar-Taj, meeting the Ancient One. She took me as a disciple and allowed me the access to her private library. Mordo was already there, but Stephen only joined us two years afterwards."

Loki had observed Mikan silently while she spoke to him. He had noticed she wasn't a shy type of woman. Instead, she was talkative and too sociable for her to be able to fully ignore him. Her cheerful personality seemed to allow her to befriend others easily. He knew enough about her past to fully assume this quality was what had led her to that particular path of hers, what had opened her so many opportunities. Indeed, Loki still had freshly in mind the first time they met, how insouciant and reckless Mikan had behaved, for the simple reason she wanted to free him from the invisible chains partially binding his soul and mind to Thanos' will. He who she barely knew nothing about, he who she had never had any contact with beforehand, he who, one month prior to their first encounter, had killed thousands of her kind. Yes, Mikan was rather outgoing, highly optimistic and an energetic kind of person. At times very stubborn too and Loki found those qualities of her truly endearing for when they weren't the cause of their arguments.

Mikan's eyes meet Loki's once again and she threw him a gentle smile. At this instant, she was truly willing to forget their differences and just enjoy a decent conversation with him. Whether his intentions to learn to know her better were genuine or not, she couldn't care less for there was a truth behind it. Indeed, if they were to spend all this time together in this basement and if they wanted their teamwork to be truly efficient, they had to work on and try to ease the tension between them.

"I would have asked you what your favorite color is, but it seems obvious that it's green." The young woman chose to ignore Loki's blatant eye roll and pursued: "So, this might seem to you as a petty question but what is your favorite meal?"

"This one is rather easy: anything that has honey in it."

Mikan smirked: "Well, the least I can say is this did come out to me as a surprise!"

Loki arched a curious eyebrow. "And, may I know what makes you think so?"

"Well, I just assumed you to be more of a picky eater." She shrugged.

"If you say so. Then, what is yours?" Loki asked, slightly curious.

"My favorite treat is Howalons, a specialty of the Academy Alice. You should try it. At least once!" Mikan exclaimed excited, her laughing eyes lightening up her beautiful face. "I doubt that you know what a marshmallow looks like but it is similar to one or to a cotton candy. It has this amazing milk flavor and it is as soft as a cloud. Oh, and when you eat it, there's this incredible feeling of happiness that starts running through your veins! I just love it!"

A foreign warmth filled Loki's chest. The truth was that since he had jumped from the Bifrost, no, since all the events that had followed Thor's failed coronation, he hadn't had the opportunity to enjoy even a simple, mundane conversation like this one, nonetheless in such an agreeable company. The word innocent crossed his mind for an instant, nevertheless Loki knew better than to make the mistake of considering Mikan as such. _'She has more than one card under her sleeve.'_

Loki didn't feel the need to be embarrassed for enjoying their discussion, neither did he desire to hide it. It would be useless since she could sense his aura and feelings. Furthermore, it could only serve in his favor since it would flatter her. So, Loki only nodded to her enthusiasm and smiled back at her when she smiled at him.

"So, Loki, putting New-York aside, have you ever visited the _'good people of Earth'_ before?"

"As a matter of fact, I did. A couple times." He confirmed as he rose to his feet and walked towards the glass wall. "How do you suggest Vikings or Midgardians in general would have known about us otherwise?"

"You make a fair point." Mikan admitted, joining him. The landscape to her back, folding her arms across her chest, one foot resting on the wall, she leaned her head on the glass, facing him fully. "I should rephrase my question then: has none of your previous experiences on Earth, New-York put aside, made you reconsider your opinion on us?"

Loki locked his eyes in Mikan's as he tried to decipher what were his _Little One_ 's motives behind this question.

"But _darling_ you already wasted your shot on the previous question!" He teased her, leaning nonchalantly on his elbow on the glass wall.

Mikan cocked her head to the side, so she would still be able to face him fully. This movement made her braided hair fell on her shoulder. She was once again struck by the harmony of his traits. With a knowing smirk of his own, he was amused to catch her blatantly staring at him. His eyes teasing, Loki poked her on the nose with the tips of his finger. Mikan kept herself from chuckling and with a little pout on her lips, she pleaded: "Aww. But we both know you won't mind answering it, will you?"

Holding one palm to his heart, Loki raised her hand to his lips. "Since you insist _Milady_ , I will provide an answer to your question. Although I am afraid the truth might upset you." Mikan's eyes flashed with defiance as she tried in vain to fight down the warmth threatening to travel to her cheeks. Loki's lips twisted into a sneer. "Now, firstly, let's correct some assumptions of yours: my position on your Realm is no different to those of the residents of the eight others. And, to be honest, this is not very hard to realize why. Your bodies are so fragile its bones can break effortlessly." To illustrate his statement, Loki squeezed her hand without putting enough pressure to harm her. Loki noticed Mikan's frown but pursued regardless of it. "Your lifespan is so short it's ridiculous: the best you can hope for is to live up to one hundred years. Or, what is a hundred years to us if not a heartbeat? And yet, your people chose to waste the already too short time they are given to live to constantly kill one another over such petty things as some lands or the color of their skins. Except a mere handful of your people, most cannot even picture the reality of what is happening beyond your realm, taking things as far as believing yourself to be the only inhabitants of the Universe and its center. Tell me _Little One_ , isn't it ironic that Midgardians are so self-conscious of their weakness, their insignificance, they are naturally inclined to idolize us, crosses and whatsoever? To the point they are even ready to bow in front of a cow in the hopes to understand the reasons of their existence!"

"Even though I have to admit you are right on our ridiculous need to fight one another, I also do believe some of your ideas are misplaced. I am more than certain racism, big egos and the hunger for power are vices present in all the residents of the Nine Realms." Mikan retorqued. "Actually, for a reminder, you incorporate all of those faults at the same time."

"Ouch, touché! I'll give you this one, _sweetheart_. However, I must insist that I, just as well as all Asgardians, know better than to let these flaws stifle our kingdom. We have experienced rivalry amongst our ranks, duels and at times treasons, yet these are still nothing in comparison to what your kind is capable of for Asgard has never been the scene of any civil war. Each one of us knows from the very beginning which purposes he is assigned to serve in our Realm."

"I see." Mikan whispered as she tried to process Loki's explanations from an objective and impartial point of view. Though, she was tempted for a moment to play the Ragnarok prophecy card. "I suppose that as long as you all take your problems out on others' Realms instead of yours, you are OK with it."

Loki made a show of rolling his eyes. "You know I didn't mean that."

"Enlighten me then." Mikan replied sarcastically.

"My pleasure. With a lifespan as long as ours and the capacities we possess, the challenges we aim for are meant to be higher than yours. We need to find an objective to pursue and this quest makes us somehow little similar to your kind. I, for example, crave for knowledge and perfecting my mastery of Magic. Odin and his father, Bor, before him assured Asgard's domination over the Nine Realms and Thor, the Warriors Three, and Sif are passionate warmongers. Although, even if Thor's passion seemed to have changed, he still craves for battles. He's just become more reasonable after falling for this mortal."

" _This mortal_ has a name and it's Jane."

Loki shrugged it off. "Yes, whatever."

"You don't seem to appreciate her."

"Well, if not for the good influence she had on Thor, I would have still been on the throne of Asgard." Loki sneered, annoyed by Mikan's blatant incredulous look.

Mikan smirked at Loki's annoyance. Somehow, she found it endearing on him which might even encourage her to tease him further. She opened her mouth but closed it as Loki's choice of words finally sank in. The fact that he considered Jane's influence on his brother positive only spoke for itself. _'You do still care for him, don't you?'_

"You don't look too upset." Loki remarqued. His voice brought Mikan back from her thoughts.

"Why would I be Loki? I was already aware of how little you think of us." Mikan pointed out. _'After all, New York leaves little to the imagination.'_

"Like the comparison or not, _Little One_ , but you cannot grow an overwhelming affection for the ants in your garden overnight. You may realize they might be stronger or more resistant than what first met the eye but that's it. However, if this is what you wanted to hear, _darling_ , I am aware that some Midgardians are actually worth the attention." Loke paused, and for an instant seemed to hesitate before adding. "You included."

"Oh, I am sure your experience with the Avengers has a little something to do with it." The young woman teased him gently with a smug smile on her face, undecided on how she should feel about Loki's sincere admission.

"Maybe." Loki winced slightly, paling at the reminder of his beating by the Hulk. "In fact, I was rather referring to my encounter with Merlin."

Mikan's jaw went slack. He couldn't be talking about THE Merlin, right?

"What was he like?" She whispered in a breath.

"Worth all the tales that lived on to this day. I am honored to have been his student. He taught me his knowledge on Magic in exchange of Arthur's protection during my stay in Camelot."

 _'I wonder how incredible a man can be to earn such respect and admiration from Loki…'_

Mikan opened her mouth, ready to ask him more about his adventures with Merlin and Arthur but Loki beat her into it: "I believe you already wasted your five questions for this day, _sweetheart_. My turn."

"Fine." Mikan huffed.

"Aw, there's no need to look so disappointed, _sweetheart_. It will be a tale for another day." Loki cheered her up, a cheeky smile on his face. "Now, I have to say that I am more than curious to know how you managed to convince Gamora to trust you when even I didn't."

"Well, you can't blame her for that!" Mikan snorted. "Furthermore, she would never have told me all this information hadn't I used one of my Pheromones Alice on her."

"So, you are capable of mind-reading, perceiving peoples' auras and emotions, influencing one's hormones to render him or her more inclined to follow your orders unquestioningly and I bet this is only a slight glimpse of your talents! So, tell me _darling_ , what is it that you do with all this power?" Loki asked, even though he had already a strong guess what her answer would be.

"It's rather simple, I don't use it. Well most of the time." Mikan admitted. "I just… it's… it just feels wrong. I feel dirty doing it."

"This has something to do with you being the captive of this organization."

Mikan's hazel eyes darkened as Loki proved once again how perceptive he was. "When Kuonji finally realized violence wouldn't convince me to do his dirty work, he changed tactics. At first, he started by using it on others to bribe me. _'Do what I say and they'll be safe.'_ Over time, he gradually developed and perfected a way to neutralize my Nullification." Mikan closed her eyes and clenched her fists, desperately willing herself not to cry. "He would place this horrendous amount of Corrosion Alice Stones in me and, while my body was fighting off their effects, Luna Koizumi would take over my will with her Soul-Sucking Alice. They made me do terrible things, the shame and the horror of my actions still haunt me to this day. And he enjoyed it. This sick psycho loved to inflict torture on me. He took pleasure in watching me be in excruciating pain, he only lived to see the horror on my face when his control would finally wear off." Mikan took a deep breath and unlocked her eyes from Loki's gaze to look away, focusing on the details of the landscape. "I know what it feels like to have my mind violated, to lose all hell of control over my body, Loki. How could I use such powers and still be able to look at my own reflection on the mirror?"

For the first time, the gravity of what happened to Mikan started to truly sink in in Loki's mind. From what he had comprehended, she had freed herself eight years ago. Even though this amount of time was insignificant to him, it meant a third of Mikan's life. Yet, the weight of it was so heavy on her frail shoulders she was still unable to speak about it without barely breaking down.

Her face was leaning on the cool glass, making it possible for him to observe its reflection on it, to reach out for her eyes which were filled by the ghosts of her past.

"How did you escape from their control?"

"In the four years I was held captive, I've only been conscious in two of them as I was put under a long-induced coma the two others. What they did to me in these two, I don't know and probably never will. I doubt that I even want to. I am only certain of this: they experimented on me; changed some of my physical abilities, made me stronger and yet weaker as they kept pushing my body to its limits. They kept inserting Alices Stones in it, so much the energy in me kept growing until my body couldn't bear it anymore. There was an explosion. They all died in it and I survived. The two years after it were a complete blur. I remember barely what I did or what happened to me. Because of Kuonji I lost nearly six years of my life."

"You blame him for stealing these years from you and yet you refused the opportunity I gave you to live longer, to make up for way more than the time you've lost. I still do not understand why." Loki admitted, confused by Mikan's reasoning.

Mikan finally met his eyes again. "I've already lived too much."

There it was, she had said it, the words had finally escaped her mouth and she despised herself for it.

Despite her being only twenty-four years old, Mikan's confession didn't feel absurd to Loki. The mismatch between her eyes and the youth her body exhibited had practically been the first thing he had noticed in Mikan. _'I've already lived too much.'_ He lowered his gaze to her hands. Grabbing hold of them in a strong but careful grasp, Loki rolled up her sleeves to uncover her wrists. Holding his breath at the sight, Loki caressed gently her wounded skin, retracing the marks of Mikan's self-induced pain with his thumbs.

"You did not strike me as the suicidal type," he whispered.

"That's because I've changed Loki. I've tried several times when I was Kuonji's prisoner and once after the explosion that killed him. The last attempt dates from eight or seven years ago; as I said, those two years were a complete blur, I remember them barely. Mostly because I was in too much pain to be able to." Mikan's responded in a murmur. "I hate those marks but I keep them as the reminder of how egoistic I used to be."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because of everyone's sacrifices to save me. My mom's, Rei's and Natsume's deaths."

Loki contemplated over her response, lost in the memories of his own failed attempts to end it all. Mikan placed a comforting hand on Loki's upper arm and squeezed the one she just realized he was still holding. She could feel his pain too.

"It seems that you and I have more in common than we both could have thought at first guess. We've both attempted to kill ourselves, been under the influence of a delusional psychopath and are mildly interested in Allice's work. What does it make us then?" Loki smiled faintly.

"What about we try friends?" Mikan proposed with a bright, hopeful smile.

"Friends? Oh, I ain't good with those." Loki pretended to shake his head at the idea which earned him an amused chuckle.

"My bad then, I had even my friendship offering ready for you to open!" Mikan sighed exaggeratedly.

A petite white box tied with a green ribbon appeared in her hands. She waved it in front of him, a small smirk on her face. On its side was a small note with his name written on it. The idea she had prepared it for him, even though she was still supposedly mad at him for trying to convince her to eat a Golden Apple, made Loki's heart clench. In a good way. Thankful and yet speechless, Loki leaned closer to caress delicately Mikan's cheek with the tips of his fingers, a cocky smile on his face. He couldn't help but be amazed by how soft her skin felt under his. Mikan didn't shy away from his touch. A soft smile even appeared on her face, almost inviting.

"Howalons, I made them myself!"

"Are you truly intending to bribe me into becoming your friend, _Little One_?" Loki quirked a brow, his eyes glimmered with amusement.

"You might be gifted in the mastery of words, SilverTongue, but I excel at pastries. I don't mean to brag but I trust my cooking skills to rival Asgard's best chef!"

"This is a bold bet you made here, _sweetheart_! You shouldn't be so confident."

"Then, why don't you just try one and tell me?" Mikan offered, handing the box out to him. Taking the bait, Loki's fingers brushed over her skin, lingering slightly longer than they should have.

Loki carefully untied the green ribbon, a somehow childish excitation overwhelming him. Opening up the small box, he uncovered sweets that indeed looked like cotton candies. Picking one delicately, he brought it up to his mouth. Slowly, the dulcet taste of the confection continued to an overwhelming feeling of sweet delight. The bliss infused every cell of his body, brightened his features.

Loki had forgotten what happiness felt like, how light his chest used to feel before all this pain invaded it. His eyes grew wet. Turning away to escape from Mikan's perceptive gaze, he focused on every small details of the landscape, forbidding any tear to fall.

In the course of this meticulous action, Loki lost all track of time. So, Mikan chose to retire, conscious he needed some privacy to recollect himself.

When Loki finally left the roof of the mansion, the night blanket had covered up the day and Mikan had already regained her chambers. Sensing he needed some rest too, Loki walked toward his owns, where he traded his clothing for a shirt and a comfortable pair of trousers.

Loki sighed as he sat on the edge of his bed, contemplating the little white box on his lap. Caressing the soft material of the evergreen ribbon that was the exact same color of his eyes, Loki picked the little note which was marked by one single word. His name. He started to study Mikan's careful, elegant and yet somehow childish handwriting while wondering on how long it must have taken her to prepare this, amazed by how she could have been willing to put so much heart in a present for him, all while being supposedly mad at him. It only made him realize once more how forgiving Mikan was. _'That's just who she is.'_ He thought, touched by Mikan's gentle attention.

Loki placed carefully the box on his nightstand, a small smile playing on his lips. He could only admit defeat on this one.

"Alright. You won, _Mikan_. Friends will it be then."

* * *

Hotaru and Jane appeared on the Helicarrier's deck, holding on tight to Thor to maintain their balance.

To their surprise, the whole team was already there to greet them. Even Hermione, Darcy and Selvig were present.

"I didn't know you would miss us so bad." Hotaru said sarcastically.

"Oh, just cut through the bullshit, Imai!" Clint smirked. "Did you make it or not?"

"We did, Barton. Who do you think we are?"

Luca smirked at his friend's arrogance and rolled his eyes when Tony shamelessly winked flirtatiously at her.

"Well, that's good news." Hermione nodded. "It took us some time but, thanks to Harry's Tracking Spell, we were also able to retrace the galaxy Mikan and Loki are hiding in. I am looking forward to pursue this discussion with you two later, ladies, but let's focus on the source of our current priority. Why did you want us to meet here, Fury?"

"Believe me, I've been asking myself this question all morning." Tony sighed, pinching his nose as he wished for his migraine to go away. God, he hated morning hangovers!

All heads turned towards Fury, the one who had asked for this meeting in the first place.

"Loki's scepter has gone missing."

And all of a sudden, Tony felt completely sobered.

* * *

Thanos' grip on the arm of his throne tightened. He could hear the crackling sound of the handle shattering between his fingers. Rising to his full height, the Mad Titan headed towards his personal vault, ignoring the Black Order flinching away from him.

The Other was dead, Nebula and Ronan were out of the game. So was Loki. Gamora had betrayed his trust. _'Such a shame!'_ The Little One had always been his favorite, by far the smartest of his Children.

 _'Was it really too much to ask for? Is it impossible to rely on anyone?'_

Moving his impressive mass throughout his basement Thanos opened the casket, revealing the Infinity Gauntlet. With a satisfied smirk, he plunged his arm in it. It was a perfect fit.

"Fine. I'll do it myself."

Rolling his petite fragment of the Soul Stone between his fingers, the only Gem left in his possession, Thanos caressed the golden metal of the fake Gauntlet.

 _'I underestimated you, Allice. I will give you that, tiny Asgardian. But don't expect me to fall for the same trick twice.'_ Thanos thought, reflecting on his next move.

"Ebony, prepare Sanctuary II. We are going to pay a visit to the Dwarves."

Thanos clenched his fist, refusing to acknowledge failure. The move he was about to do was bold; almost a desperate one. But he wouldn't resort himself to ask for his Lady's help before trying everything in his power to avoid this situation.

With Nebula in his captivity, Thanos knew he wouldn't have to fear a confrontation with the old man. Odin wouldn't try to challenge him more, he was too cautious for that. Even if this meant the whole extinction of another Realm.

* * *

When she woke up the next morning, a lush flower accompanied by a small scrap of paper were waiting Mikan on her doorstep. The young woman bent down to gather them, amazed by the beauty of the flower's petals, whose color fell somewhere between orange and gold. Raising it to her nose to smell its delicate fragrance, a small smile took form on her beautiful face.

Stepping back in her room, Mikan made a vase appear that emphasized the flower's grace. Carefully, she placed Loki's gift in it and put the vase on her nightstand. Only then she unfolded the note. Her heart skipped a beat and, slowly, her already bright smile widened. It read:

 _To friendship, Loki._

* * *

 **AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA**

 **A.N:**

 **I really hope that you have enjoyed this chapter!  
**

 **Please review and tell me what you think of this new chapter ! ^^**


	12. Chapter 12: Of Distress and Confusion:

**Once again, a big thanks to** krystal lazuli **for beta-reading this chapter!  
**

 **Please review and tell me what you think about it! Constructive criticism is always welcome, it allows me to take your critics into consideration and helps me better this story and my writing.  
**

 ** **Disclaimer: I do not own neither Gakuen Alice, which belongs to Tachibana Higuchi, nor Avengers, which belongs to Marvel and even less Harry Potter, which is the work of the wonderful J.K.R. I wouldn't be writing fanfictions otherwhise! However I do own the plot and my OCs characters of course.****

 **Chapter 12: Of Distress and Confusion:**

"What did you exactly meant by _'has gone missing'_ , Fury?" Steve finally asked, outraged. He had been the first to recover from the shock. Nevertheless, he was still dumbfounded by the revelation.

"Well, it all depends on which part of it you didn't get." Tony suggested sarcastically.

"Oh, no! Please, be kidding!" Luca winced.

"Just as if we were in need of more problems." Natasha sighed.

"How could you lose an Infinity Stone, Fury?!" Hermione exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips, her eyes flashing dangerously.

"When I brought the Scepter back to you, I believed that it would be in safe hands, Fury. How could you allow such a thing to happen?" Thor reproached.

"Oh, come on you guys! It can't be that bad. It's just a piece of stick after all." Dracy attempted to calm them down.

"The same piece of stick that allowed Loki to put Selvig under his control and gave him his mental breakdown, Darcy!" Jane felt obligated to remind her.

"Alright! You all just shut up!" Fury shouted sharply. This had the benefit of interrupting the bedlam and everyone was reduced to silence. "We already have a lead."

"We are all ears." Tony sighed dramatically.

Fury glared at him furiously . "Just zip it, Stark!"

Tony smirked insolently but made a show of raising his hands in defeat. Harry had to chew on the inside of his cheek to keep himself from chuckling while Ron placed his fist against his mouth in a desperate attempt to do the same.

Hermione and Steve rolled their eyes and shared a look of exasperation at the three. _'Are they ever going to grow up?'_

"Wolfgang von Strucker, one of HYDRA's leaders, stole it. They are keeping it in their Research Base in Sokovia and I want you to retrieve it."

The blood was drained from Steve's face. Noticing his white face, Harry, Tony and Ron had the decency to regain some seriousness. Especially since Harry and Tony were aware of Cap's past with the terrorist organization.

"HYDRA?" he repeated faintly.

"Yes, Agent Rogers. They are weaker and fewer than what they used to be when you first confronted them, but they are still active." Maria Hill spoke up.

"How? I always believed S.H.I.E.L.D had dismantled all their forces." Steve said faintly, still reeling from the realization the group still existed.

"Obviously, we haven't done the best job on this field." Fury admitted with an annoyed frown on his face. "For years, HYDRA had managed to deeply infiltrate our ranks. We realized it only few months prior to Loki's invasion. We had to arrest nearly half of our staff."

"Half? Half the staff?" Steve looked at Fury incredulously. He rose up and pounded a fist into the table, "I'll say you didn't do the best job. That's insane.

As Steve sat back down, he felt Luna reach out and squeeze his hand gently. He threw her a small smile, thankful for her gentle show of support.

"Let's go beat some asses!" Tony proposed.

"This ain't much of a plan, Stark." Hotaru pointed out.

"It's already twelve percent of a plan." he shrugged, a small smirk playing on his lips.

* * *

"How was your day at the bloc?" Stephen casually asked Christine while she was hanging her coat on the hook.

"Fine, really. Nic says hi by the way." Christine replied, attracted by the pleasant smell of the food emanating from her kitchen. "You ordered Chinese?"

"Obviously."

Christine rolled her eyes at the slight touch of arrogance in her boyfriend's tone, still with an indulgent smile on her face. She quickly finished removing her shoes and joined Stephen in the kitchen where she found him setting the table. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she tiptoed to give him a light peck on the cheek. "I missed you."

"I missed you too."

"Mikan and Mordo aren't coming tonight?" Christine wondered, surprised by their friends' absence and rightfully so. Indeed, the four of them had developed the habit of meeting every third Saturday of the month in her place, where they would just hang out, enjoy a good meal and share one or two drink. Then, late in the night, Mikan and Mordo would retire to allow Stephen and Christine the privacy to enjoy some pleasant intimacy.

Stephen went still in their embrace. Worried, Christine stepped back to be able to observe her lover.

"Is everything alright, Stephen?"

"Christine, there has been some complication amongst the ranks of Kamar-Taj lately." Stephen sighed. "You might as well want to take a seat."

Following Stephen's advice, Christine sat on her chair and he proceeded to catch her up on all the events from the past month.

"That's so messed up! What does she do to always get herself in so much trouble!?"

"Well, it looks like she dragged me into this mess too." Stephen replied, rolling up his sleeve so he could show her the bracelet.

"What's that? Oh, my goodness! Stephen, is it melted in your skin?!"

"Yes. Mikan and I had to make a blood pact to ensure Loki's loyalty to her. We'll see tomorrow if he'll keep his words: after he brought me back here, we agreed on Mikan coming to Earth one day each month so we can check on her wellbeing." Stephen explained, an exasperated look on his face.

"What happens if one of you breaks the pact?" Christine asked faintly.

"He'll die."

Christine felt her blood drained from her face as she went as white as a sheet.

"It's a relatively radical solution."

"Loki is the god of Lies and Mischief, Christine. He also wears the well-earned names of the Liesmith and the SilverTongue. Believe me, this was the least we could do."

"Then, maybe you should have stayed there with Mikan, don't you think? I mean, the guy is sick."

"No. I am needed here and I would have been quite useless there. Furthermore, Mikan is a grown woman, she knows how to take care of herself. Even though it doesn't help that she is an idiot!" Stephen sighed. "I swear this girl is looking for problems; not only did she go in his cell once but three times in a row! And now it's worse: you should have seen the tension between them!"

"Are you afraid that she might fall for him or something?" Christine frowned.

"I know her too well, I don't doubt her capacity to commit to such idiocy. Furthermore, Loki is an Aesir for crying out loud! They have quite an history of falling for Midgardian women, just take a look at Thor and Jane Foster! And, oh God, I can't believe what I am about to say, but let's admit it anyway: Loki doesn't lack charms."

"Hmm. Though, no matter how handsome he might be, I still doubt that mass murderers are Mikan's type."

"If I were you, I wouldn't bet on that! You should have seen the way they were making eyes at each other!"

"I see. But if this Loki is as smart as you all claim him to be, I think that he'll prefer to avoid any complications between him and Mikan. So, wouldn't keeping their relationship platonic strike him as one of his first priorities?" wondered Christine.

"Oh, I don't doubt that either. But you, my dear, seem to have forgotten Mikan's stubbornness and her bad habit to stick her nose where it doesn't belong."

"Fine, I'll give you that. But I still believe that you should give Mikan more credit!" Christine pointed out.

"I already do. I just don't want her to get hurt. You know better than I do Mikan's weird obsession for trying to fix what's irreparable. I am just afraid she might fall under the illusion she can change him for the best."

"True, but it worked out pretty well for you, didn't it?" Christine felt the need to remind him.

"Yes, but I wasn't unfixable!"

"Well, I, for sure, couldn't 'fix' you. And, if Kamar-Taj and the Ancient One helped a lot, it is the friendship you grew for Mikan that made the man I am so proud to be in love with today."

"Really? It truly surprises me to hear you say that when I remember you being quite jealous of her few months ago," he remarked with a smug smile.

Christine's cheeks turned bright red with embarrassment. She sighed and rested her head on his chest. Closing his arms around her, Stephen drew her closer to him as he leaned to kiss the crown of her head. Playing with a button of his shirt, Christine smiled to herself.

"It's true. But I learned to know her better. We had the Talk and she assured me that she finds you too old and too annoying to be interested in you that way!"

Stephen rolled his eyes at the comment.

"She sure talks a lot for someone who surpasses anyone in this field!"

"No, she doesn't. Mikan is a sweetheart. In fact, I even doubt her capacity to even be more likeable! She is quite the opposite to you, very good at growing on people which surely ain't your cup of tea! Always rubbing them the wrong way… You know what, my little finger tells me your arrogance has something to do with it."

"Christine, it can't be called arrogance if I obviously excel at all that I do."

"And if this ain't arrogance!" Christine chuckled.

"Why don't we try well placed pride." Stephen proposed.

"Oh, please!"

He laughed as Christine slapped him gently on his shoulder. Tilting her head, she gave him a passionate kiss as she slowly melted in his embrace. Too soon, they parted away.

"I like this part of your personality Stephen and this is because I love you."

Stephen deposed a smooth kiss on her forehead.

"I know, love."

Caressing gently his arm, Christine closed her eyes and simply enjoyed their closeness.

"I don't know if she's ever told you, Stephen, but Mikan considers you two as her big brothers. You're her only family. Don't you ever forget that. She needs you. Please, take good care of her."

"I know, sweetheart," sighed Stephen, resting his head on hers, "I know and I will."

* * *

"This is a simple choice I am giving you have here, Eitri: either forge me the Infinity Gauntlet or I will eradicate your kingdom."

"Over our dead bodies, Thanos!"

"I will give you one more chance to be reasonable, Eitri. Forge me the Gauntlet and I will forget your nonsense!" Thanos proposed one more time, starting to lose his temper. _'If this imbecile doesn't obey me, I will be obliged to ask for Her help!'_

Looking down at the Mad Titan, a determined twinkle crossed the eyes of the Dwarves' king. _'I would rather have my people die holding their heads high than letting them bear the responsibility of the doom of the whole Universe on their shoulders!'_

"I stand firm on my position, Titan." Eitri drew his sword. "Dwarves! All with me!"

"Fine, Eitri. You will be the only one to blame for your Realm's downfall." Thanos smirked, advancing in a calm and measured stance toward Eitri. The latter, followed by his army, charged, fiercely leading his people toward an inexorable death as they roared one last battle cry.

* * *

Mikan woke up in a cold sweat, her heart furiously pounding against her chest. She could hardly breath. Her trembling hand covering her mouth, she closed her eyes as she tried desperately to recall the reason of her sudden awakening.

The young woman jolted in surprise when Loki suddenly burst in her room, a worried expression on his face, wearing nothing but loose pants and a shirt.

"Are you alright?"

Noticing that Mikan was safely sitting on the edge of her bed, all covered in sweat, her dilated hazel eyes looking at him with a lost expression, Loki felt the need to explain himself for he realized he might have overreacted.

"I… You screamed."

"I screamed?" Mikan repeated dumbly. Her sweaty palms tightened their grasp on the sheets of her bed.

"Yes," nodded Loki, now frowning. "You screamed like there was no tomorrow."

"Ah." Mikan whispered weakly.

If possible, she became even paler. Loki couldn't help but wonder what in the Nine Realms could have possibly happened to reduce Mikan to such a panicked state. Aware that he couldn't simply leave her like this, Loki materialized a glass of water that he gently handed to her. Her hands were shaking so much that half of its content was spilled on the floor. Materializing a charmed mop, he made sure the mess would be cleaned up.

"Thanks."

Loki shrugged it off and leaned against the frame of her door, patiently crossing his arms against his chest. When Mikan finally realized he had no intention of leaving before she explained herself to him, she sighed resignedly and invited him to take a seat next to her, too shaken to be self-conscious of her poor state.

As he sat next to her, Loki noticed the flower he had gifted her two days ago was laying on Mikan's nightstand. His eyes fixed it for an instant; Mikan had obviously been taking good care of it.

"I think it's bad. Really bad. This has happened to me before, Loki. Twice." Mikan paused as she felt the need to collect herself. Taking another sip of water, she continued, "It somehow works like some sort of premonition, I think. It happened to me the day I had to kill Natsume and the one Stephen confronted Dormammu."

Loki rose up to his feet at Mikan's explanation.

"I see. I will check if anything happened that could explain this."

"Wait! I'm coming with you!"

"Not in this state." Loki disapproved firmly.

"I am perfectly fine!"

Loki sneered at her comment which earned him a dark look. He rolled his eyes at her antics.

"You definitely are a terrible liar, _Little_ _One_. You should rest, I won't take long."

"I am coming with you," Mikan reaffirmed strongly, this time without shaking, "I will neither be able to sleep nor to rest as long as I will be in left in the dark. I know that something terrible has happened, Loki. I feel it in my guts and it's killing me."

"Fine," Loki conceded, exasperated by Mikan's stubbornness. "I'll give you ten minutes to clean yourself up. Meet me in the library."

"Thanks, Loki." Mikan replied, grateful yet mildly offended by his comment at the same time. Even though she knew he was right.

* * *

As agreed, Mikan found Loki diligently waiting for her in front of the library dressed in more casual clothes. It was with apprehension that she observed him examine her appreciatively. However, her heart was warmed by the slight wave of reassurance that flowed through his body as he noticed she had regained some colors.

"How do you intend us to check things out, Loki?" Mikan asked him, curious.

"There is a slight change in my plans; I decided it would be safer if we will just hover over the branches of Yggdrasil, so we can see if anything wrong has happened in the Nine Realms. It'll be only through an astral projection, _Little One_. Don't worry, I'll guide you through it." Loki reassured her. "And, if this turns out to be fruitless, we would have to check out on Midgard to see if it ain't something more personal to you."

"Fine." Mikan nodded.

The young woman had to admit she was slightly impressed by Loki's capacity to not only project his astral form so far but also help her to it since the Ancient One was the only other person of her acquaintance who would have been able of such a thing.

"We should sit down. _Mikan_ , during the whole process, you must not let go of my hand. At any cost. Alright?"

Paling slightly, Mikan nodded silently. She was well aware of the dire consequence of such an act: her soul would forever be lost in limbo. So, following his advice, the young woman sat down on the floor, mirroring his position. Loki reached out for her hand that she posed on his inner arm and, as soon as their bodies made contact, Mikan felt the familiar dizzying sensation of her astral form being separated of her physical form.

Loki's grip on Mikan's hand tightened as their projections engaged their travel inside the Yggdrasil's branches. Mikan had never seen anything like this! True, the Ancient One had shown her some glimpses of the Multiverses, however none of them equaled her current experience with Loki. It was simply breathtaking. It looked nothing like what she could have ever expected and yet she would have been unable to describe it either. But everything was so bright! Mikan could actually feel the power and energy of the Yggdrasil's branches surrounding her, invigorating and caressing her soul.

By focusing a tad more, Mikan realized they were surrounded by soft whispers and echoes of discussions she couldn't decipher, soothing her ears like the sound of a murmuring brook.

Before she had even heard them, Mikan's blood ran cold. As Loki was about to ask her what was wrong, wrenching cries pierced through the peaceful, lulling rustle. Mikan sensed Loki fidget against her. He had recognized Thanos' spiritual energy. Noticing Loki's paleness, Mikan bit her lip, fighting down the panic her heart had already started to succumb to.

"Is it…?"

"Yes. Don't let go of my hand." Loki reminded her.

"I won't."

Mikan could have sensed Loki's apprehension from miles away. This was understandable, it was certain that Loki's experience with the Mad Titan had been anything but pleasant.

"I retraced the cries to Nidavellir, home of the Dwarves."

"Good."

Loki nodded to Mikan and, progressively, the dazzling light was replaced by a much darker décor only illuminated by fires that had erupted from there to here, all throughout Nidavellir. The Realm was hosting what could only be described as a complete and monstrous genocide. Mikan covered her mouth with her free hand in horror, thankful that her astral form wasn't capable of throwing up. The scenery was horrifying, all these giant corpses, blood stains, and that horrible smell of burnt flesh. Neither of them were capable of looking away from the terrifying display of Thanos' power and cruelty.

In the center of it all, stood Thanos. He wasn't even half the size of his opponents, yet the purple Titan was single handedly dominating the whole battle, or rather the atrocious massacre. And, the worse part: he wasn't even accompanied by his army of Chitauri.

A terrible guilt filled Mikan's heart. After all, it was because of their intervention on Knowhere that Thanos was taking his anger out on the Dwarves. How naïve had she been to believe that retrieving the Orb would make all the problems go away!

Oh, Mikan was so dying to intervene, or at least try to do something to help them out, anything!

The young woman was surprised when Loki squeezed lightly her hand and started stroking it with his thumb.

"Don't be stupid, _Little_ _One_. You cannot blame yourself for his madness," he whispered softly, "Thanos doesn't stand failure." Loki added through pursed lips as he grew deathly pale in remembrance of the years' worth of tortures inflicted upon him. _'You will have your war, Asgardian. If you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where he cannot find you. You think you know pain? He will make you long for something sweet as pain.'_

It was at times like these that Mikan cursed her gift, which she had no control over, to sense others' feeling. The reality of what they were witnessing hit her so hard! She was overwhelmed by the horror, the fear, the pain, the despair, the sadness and the defeated feelings surrounding her; the distress the Dwarves were going through.

"I know, Loki…" Mikan sighed helplessly. "But my heart bleeds for them."

Surprisingly, one disturbing emotion stood out of them all: it was guilty pleasure.

"Oh, dear God! He is enjoying this!" Mikan breathed out in aberration. "We've watched enough of this horror! Loki, please bring us back!" she begged.

Loki finally detached his gaze from Thanos' form to happily oblige Mikan's wish, materializing them back to their physical form as the horrendous scenery faded away to the more welcoming walls of Allice's mansion.

* * *

Tony engaged his flight over HYDRA's base in Sokovia, reviewing their forces, analyzing the structure of their fortress. Of course, his red and golden colored suit, which wasn't exactly discreet, gave away his position quickly.

"Woops! It seems we've just been spotted by the bad guys!"

In their fast-moving Jeep, Clint and Natasha exchanged a complicit glance; they could hear Tony's smirk through their headphones.

"I know," replied Natasha, "they're firing at us!"

She drove the Jeep in between the trees, skillfully avoiding the shots being fired at them from all directions. One wrong maneuver and it would be the end. Natasha mumbled some Russian curses as the tanks on their trails started growing closer. Two of their flying opponents jumped on their vehicle but were quickly shot by Clint's arrows. One tank reached their heights. Barely removing her eyes from the road, Natasha opened her car door and foot-kicked the driver while their fellow Avengers, Thor, Tony, the Hulk and Steve easily took care of the rest of HYDRA's ground forces.

Finally reaching the vehicle fences, Natasha and Clint jumped in sync out of the still moving Jeep that landed heavily on a small troupe of HYDRA's soldiers.

Distancing the others, Tony headed straight to the fortress and was surprised to crash on an electromagnetic shield.

"Shit!"

"Language!" Steve pointed out. "J.A.R.V.I.S, what's the view from upstairs?"

"The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield. Strucker's technology is way beyond any other HYDRA base we've taken!" the AI responded after analyzing the data captured from his satellite.

"Loki's scepter must be here," affirmed Thor while throwing Mjolnir at his opponents, "Strucker couldn't mount this defense without it." he was interrupted by Mjolnir's trajectory. Dodging his Hammer, that brutally landed on the head of a soldier. He stretched out his hand to conjure it back and completed his sentence in a harsh voice. "At long last."

Throwing a bomb on a rolling tank, Black Widow elbowed an opponent to jump on two other soldiers, flipping them in one swift movement, wringing their necks with her killer legs.

"At long last is lasting a little long, boys!" smirked Natasha.

"Yeah! I think we lost the element of surprise!" retorted Clint as his arrow blew a tank up.

"Wait a second! No one else is gonna deal with the fact that Cap just said 'language'?" wondered Tony.

"I know," sighed Steve. Back-flipping out of his motorbike, he threw it at some guys driving their truck, "It just slipped out," Steve commented out of breath.

"Sir, the city is taking fire." J.A.R.V.I.S pointed out.

"Oh, we know Strucker's not going to worry about civilians' casualties. Send in the Iron Legion." Tony ordered with a frown.

Obeying his creator's command, the AI sent a small troop of empty armors in the Avengers' line of vision to work on keeping the civilians out of harm.

Discreetly sneaking his ways in between the trees, Clint pulled an arrow out of his black quiver. Tracking his next target, he aimed at the gunner who was trying to take him down. Moving quickly, he fired his arrow before repositioning himself behind his hiding spot. Caught short by the absence of explosion or striking sound, Clint had a hard time believing he could have possibly missed his target.

Coming out of his hiding place for the second time, he was hit so fast by a non-identified moving object that he was thrown several meters and landed heavily on the ground. Clint bounced back with a groan. A blonde man suddenly walked in front of him, smirking at his confusion.

"You didn't see that coming?", he scoffed.

And, as soon as he had appeared in front of him, the mutant zoomed off before Hawkeye could shoot him with an arrow. The latter, still bewildered by the stunt was hit by a bullet, knocking him back to the ground.

"Clint!" cried Natasha as she heard her friend's moan in pain. Turning around in an attempt to locate the fallen agent, she witnessed Steve being knocked down by a too fast-moving mass.

"We have an enhanced in the field!"

"Clint's hit!"

Finally locating Hawkeye's position, Natasha ran over to where he was lying down. Looking for his wound, she tried to ignore Clint's hiss of pain when she palpated it. Disturbed by the shots fired at them, Natasha cried out: "Somebody want to deal with that bunker?"

Seeing the Hulk diligently devoting himself to the task, she smiled.

"Thank you."

"Stark, we really need to get inside." Steve pointed out.

"I'm closing in." Tony responded. "J.A.R.V.I.S, am I… closing in? Do you see a power source for that shield?"

"There's a pathway below the north tower."

"Great," mumbled Tony as he started looking around himself, "I wanna poke it with something."

Fighting his way to the power source he launched a missile on it. "Drawbridge is down, people!"

Spotting Thor, Steve ran towards him.

"The enhanced?"

"He's a blur. Of all the new player's we've faced, I've never seen this!" Steve reported. "In fact, I still haven't" he added with a frown.

"Clint's hit pretty bad, guys. We're gonna need evac."

Thor and Steve shared a look.

"I can get Barton to the jet. The sooner we're gone the better. You and Stark secure the scepter."

"Copy that." Steve nodded.

"Looks like they're lining up." Thor observed as HYDRA's forces were gathering up.

"Well, they're excited!" Steve replied with a small smirk. Holding his ground, Steve positioned himself behind his Shield as Thor pounded on it with Mjolnir. The shockwave was so hard it knocked down all the soldiers.

"Find the scepter." Thor commended before flying off Steve's sight.

"And for gosh sake, watch your language!" Tony jested.

"That's not going away anytime soon?" Steve sighed defeatedly.

 _'No way in Hell that's ever gonna happen!'_ smirked Tony in real bliss as he entered HYDRA's base. As soon as he entered the fortress a squad of soldiers started firing at him.

"Guys, stop. We gotta talk about this." Tony stated, hardly impressed as the bullets kept bouncing on his armor. Using his suit, he shot all the soldiers down. "Good talk."

"No, it wasn't." winced back one of the wounded soldiers.

Soon enough, Tony found List's hiding place. Knocking him out, he stepped out of his suit and activated the sentry mode.

"Okay, J.A.R.V.I.S," he said connecting his phone to the base's computers "You know I want it all. Make sure you copy Hill at HQ."

"We're locked down out here." he heard Natasha state through his headphone. Since Steve outpaced him in replying to her, Tony resumed his attention back to computers' screens.

"I know you're hiding more than files. Hey, J, give an IR scan of the room, real quick."

A red beam of light was projected all over the room as J.A.R.V.I.S proceeded to scan the room.

"The wall to your left… I'm reading steel reinforcement and an air current." the AI observed.

"Please be a secret door, please be a secret door, please be a secret door…" Tony kept mumbling as he walked over to it.

Pushing it lightly, the wall opened up.

"Yay!" he cried in victory as he entered through the secret passageway. The room he discovered was filled with recovered artifacts from the Battle of New York.

"We have a second enhanced. Female. Do not engage." Steve informed the team. "Guys, I got Strucker."

"Yeah, I got…" Tony paused as he observed in awe a gigantic Leviathan, "… something bigger."

He finally spotted the scepter.

"Thor, I got eyes on the prize."

Unaware of Scarlet Witch creeping up behind him, Tony was startled as the suddenly Leviathan came back to life and flied above him. Look around him in distress, Tony realized the room he was in had disappeared to materialize his worst nightmare. His heart sank as he saw the rest of the Avengers team all lying dead. Steve being the closest to him, he ran over to his body to check his pulse. Tony jolted when he suddenly grabbed his wrist.

"You could have saved us." Steve breathed out in agony.

The accusation in his voice made Tony want to throw up. How could he be dead in his arms? Why was he back there, back to where he had nearly died two months prior? Why were Leviathans flying above him, making their way back to Earth? _'Why didn't you do more?'_

Tony felt himself start to hyperventilate. _'Something doesn't add up, here! This cannot be true! Please, God, this can't be happening! Not again!'_

Suddenly, realizing he was in the Chitauri's Realm, Tony snapped back to reality. Quickly he turned around, he noticed the Leviathan had been standing still behind him. Shaking and for once rendered speechless, Tony observed Loki's scepter in confusion, wondering if the artifact was the cause of his vision.

All at once, all Tony wanted was to flee as far as possible from that place. Reluctant to touch directly the scepter, Tony stretched out his arm to summon his armor. The comforting cold metal started covering him. Once secure in his suit, Tony grabbed the scepter and quickly exited the structure. Almost running away.

* * *

The mirror Mikan was facing reflected to her a sleepless and paler version of herself. Dark bags appeared around her puffy eyes. The cruelty of the images of the previous night were still too vivid in her mind. Her hands tightened their grip on the sink until her knuckles turned white.

Taking a deep breath, Mikan splashed cool water on her face and the back of her neck, in an attempt to freshen up. Then, she hastily brushed her teeth and took a cold shower.

Once her toilet was meticulously done, Mikan walked up to her closet to choose her clothes for the day. Passing in front of her dressing table, the young woman sighed at her reflection one more time. Self-conscious of her miserable figure, Mikan sat on the velvet covered stool and swiftly applied a light touch of make-up to cover her imperfections, bringing some colors back to her pretty face.

Now that she was more satisfied with her own image in the mirror, Mikan finally felt ready to face Loki in the library.

All her appetite lost, Mikan quit her chambers and went straight to the library where she was sure to find Loki already comfortably seated in their habitual spot. Pushing the doors open, she perceived Loki's strong back turned to her. For one instant she paused as she imagined how his well-developed muscles would move accordingly under his cold, robust skin at each of his movements. This same scared skin Loki had shown her few hours ago when she had asked him at what cost had he finally surrendered his will to Thanos. What did it take the Mad Titan to make him accept to inflict the same destruction and chaos upon Earth as they had witnessed Thanos do in Nidavellir. All for a piece of rock.

She still had in mind Loki's discomfort at the lone idea of facing the Mad Titan again, even though it had been only through their astral form. Mikan was left speechless by Thanos' capacity to spread fear all around him, even in Loki's heart.

Mikan was conscious the tortures inflicted upon Loki's body must have paled in comparison to the ones his mind had gone through. And, she couldn't even visualize the amount of atrocities it must have taken to break his pride and dompt his will. Indeed, Mikan knew how prideful of a man Loki was and, sadly, a very cunning one to that. So, she could only imagine that in the midst of the intolerable pain he was put through, the possibility of using Thanos' plan to his own advantage had dangerously seduced Loki's damaged mind, making him fall for the most tempting illusion. After all, what were the humans worth anyway?

Mikan remembered clearly how tense Loki had been when she had raised her hand to retrace his scars, his faint gasp when her warm skin had made contact with his colder one while she, herself, had been holding her own breath. She recalled how rough these cruel marks had felt under her fingers in contrast to his softer, unharmed flesh. And, slowly, Mikan's hand had fallen to her sides as she had leant her face against his bare back, in a small show of comfort. She still remembered vividly how shivers had run through his spine when she had sighed against him. Mikan had then wrapped her arms around his waist and closed her eyes, soothed by the sound of his pounding heartbeat. They had remained in that awkward position until Loki had completely relaxed in her embrace. Then, his hands had covered hers briefly before simply vanishing into thin air.

"How are you doing?" Loki's velvet voice brought Mikan back to the present.

Since his back was still to her, Mikan realized how absurd it had been of her to shrug her shoulders at his question.

"I am fine, I guess. What about you?"

"Fine too."

"Great," mumbled Mikan. Her cheeks had reddened at the souvenir of her own boldness. She still couldn't believe how she had been able of committing such folly! _'You're still working on how to be friends and here I am touching him while he's half naked… He's so gonna have the wrong ideas!'_ Mikan sighed, _'But it just felt like the right thing to do back then…'_ she tried to convince herself even though a more reasonable voice was crying bullshit at her own foolishness.

"Today is time for your monthly visit to Earth, _Little One_." he stated as soon as she had appeared in his line of vision.

Mikan frowned in incomprehension, "What in the hell are you talking about, Loki?"

"I must have forgotten to tell you about this: Strange and I have agreed on you coming back to Earth at least once a month so he can check on you and be reassured I didn't try to do anything that could harm you."

"Nice. You could have consulted me on that by the way." Mikan reproached.

Loki ignored her sarcastic comment. "Do you need some time to prepare yourself?"

"No, this would do. But in the future, remember that I hate when things are decided for me." she sighed, annoyed.

"I'll keep it in mind." Loki rolled his eyes at her.

"Perfect. Now, bring me back to Kamar-Taj." replied Mikan, ignoring as well his exasperated tone.

Somehow, it was more convenient this way. _'After all, there's no way I could have been able to focus on the translations today. Especially not after what happened yesterday!'_

Reaching for Loki's arm, Mikan placed her hand on it and the library vanished around them. They reappeared in Kamar-Taj's courtyard where Stephen, Mordo, the Ancient One and a shy Christine Palmer were waiting for them. A happy smile brightened Mikan's tired face.

"I will pick you up here tomorrow." Loki stated while smirking at Mordo's and Stephen's dirty glares.

"Good bye, Loki." Mikan smiled softly. He nodded his goodbye to her and disappeared as soon as he has materialized them in the courtyard. Turning around to face her friends again, she hugged them one by one.

"God, I missed you guys!"

"Damn, Mikan you look like a mess!" Mordo cried out, noticing the dark bags under her friend's eyes.

"What did this bastard do to you?" Stephen asked, barely containing the irritation in his voice.

"Oh, please can't you two just calm down for sec? Let her breath!" Christine reproached them.

Mikan smiled faintly at Christine.

"I had a sleepless night. It's hardly Loki's fault." Mikan sighed and scratched her head, finding no way to soften the bad news. "Last night, I had a bad premonition. We decided to check things out and we discovered that Thanos had chosen to take out his anger on the Dwarves. He decimated them all, no survivor was left. He destroyed an entire Realm!"

Unbeknownst to her own self, Mikan had started shivering uncontrollably and tears of powerlessness flowed down her cheeks.

"Oh, sweetheart!" Christine soothed in her ear as she took her back in her comforting embrace.

"Thank you, Christine. Please don't worry, I am fine. I promise. It's just the backlash."

The Ancient One and Hamir, who were already aware of the situation, exchanged a look while Mordo and Stephen were still trying to cope with the immensity of Mikan's revelation.

"Why hasn't Asgard intervened?" Stephen questioned.

"I asked the same question to Loki. He told me that since Ronan and Nebula were in Odin's captivity, he probably didn't want to risk challenging Thanos more."

"But an entire Realm was exterminated!" Mordo pointed out outraged. "If anyone could have arrested him, it's the Asgardians!"

"I know," sighed Mikan as she wiped her tears away. "Loki said we may have to be prepared to the possibility of Thanos requesting Death's help. In the meantime, there is nothing much we can do," she added, annoyed by their impuissance to face Thanos' threat over the Universe.

"Well, Loki is wrong. There's still something we can do and it's making sure Thanos doesn't gain possession of any of the Infinity Stones." the Ancient One reminded her.

"You're right." Mikan smiled faintly.

"Please, Mikan, don't beat yourself over this. What happened was none of your fault. If Thanos is now capable of this scale of destruction do you even imagine what could have happened if the Orb had fallen under his hands?" Mordo pointed out.

"God forbids such a disaster from ever happening!"

The lone idea made shivers run through their spines.

"Now come here," invited her the Ancient One, "I am sure that a cherish flavored tea is going to cheer you up."

"You bet it will!"

* * *

In the second-lowest level of the Ministry of Magic, the Golden Trio walked through the Department of Mysteries, heading straight towards the Space Chamber. They were closely followed by Luna, Jane and Hotaru.

"We should consider ourselves lucky that Kingsley Shacklebolt allowed us to come back down here once again." Hermione remarqued.

"And with two Muggles nonetheless!" Harry pointed out, still impressed.

"Ewee… This place is giving me the creeps!" Ron shivered, voicing Jane's opinion.

"Is everything in your world this weird?" Hotaru wondered.

"No, of course not! This place is just one of the multiples exceptions! If you're interested, we could make a stop at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes later. It's my brothers' shop." Ron replied with enthusiasm.

Hotaru nodded silently to his proposition. _'Why not? After all, I'll probably never ever get a chance to explore the Wizarding Society again.'_

"Mione, are you sure this is going to work?" Harry wondered once again.

"No, I am not. But we'll never find out if we don't try."

As they finally reached the door separating them from the Space Chamber, a common apprehension made them pause few seconds before turning on the handle. Pushing the door open, the two scientist and their fellow wizards remained in awe at impressive view before them. The dark room was filled with planets and galaxies floating in mid-air, creating a perfect replica of the Universe as they knew it.

"It's just wonderful!" breathed out Jane in a murmur, mesmerized by the precision of the creators of the Space Chamber.

"Isn't it? I recall blowing up Pluto here twelve years ago." Luna remarqued in her dreamy voice.

Jane and Hotaru shared a confused look, trying not to be too disturbed by their friend's odd remark. Somehow, they were starting to comprehend Shacklebolt's reluctance to let them enter the Department of Mysteries.

"You sure did, but it seems that they took care of it ever since." observed Hermione, frowning seriously. "I think it's time for us to see whether Muggle technology and Magic truly can be conciliated or not!"

The small group followed Hermione's lead as she placed herself in the center of the Chamber. She pulled out of her enchanted purse the result of the two geniuses' hard work. Then she stepped aside to let Jane and Hotaru carry on the task.

"This is the moment of truth!" Jane smiled, trying to quiet down the pit of anticipation that was starting to build up in her stomach. "Hotaru, would you please do us the honor?"

Hotaru obediently nodded to the woman who had managed to earn her respect. Holding her breath, she pressed the red button.

* * *

 **AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA**

 **A.N:**

 **I really hope that you have enjoyed this chapter!  
**

 **Please review and tell me what you think of this new chapter ! ^^**


	13. Chapter 13: Of Mind Games and Revelation

**Hi everyone! I am really sorry to post this chapter so late! With all my exams and my laptop breaking down every now and then I hadn't much time to focus on it, but here it is. And, once again, a big thanks to the amazing** krystal lazuli **for beta-reading this chapter!**

 **Please review and tell me what you think about it!**

 **Disclaimer : I do neither own the Harry Potter nor the Marvel Universe as well as the personna of the Gakuen Alice. I do own the plot and my characters tho.**

 **Chapter 13: Of Mind Games and Revelations:**

Holding her breath, Hotaru pressed the red button. A general wave of disappointment overwhelmed the whole room as nothing happened.

"I guess that we should just pack up, then." sighed Hermione.

"I don't understand… I mean, Hotaru and I really did think this through." Jane mumbled, barely containing the disappointment in her voice.

"No, wait!" Luna held her hand as the two scientists moved to collect their equipment. "I just saw something."

"But, there's nothing to see, Luna." Ron shook his head.

"Maybe we should wait a little longer?" Jane proposed shyly. "What did you see, Luna?"

"Look, it's right there!" the dirty blonde-haired witch smiled as she pointed her finger at the newly appeared green orb sparkling in the Andromeda Galaxy.

"But this can't be it." Hermione protested, "I mean, there's clearly no planet indexed there."

"Just one month prior, Jane and I had no idea of the existence of your world. Yet, it was right under our noses! It's not because you cannot see something that it doesn't exist, Granger! Especially when a guy as cunning as Loki is involved in the picture, don't you think?" Hotaru objected.

"Look," Harry pointed, "it's expanding."

And, indeed, a green sparkling trail started filling gradually the Chamber, becoming more intense as it indicated the places Loki had recently visited, including the small replica of Earth.

"Bloody hell! That's just amazing!" Ron breathed out in awe as he reached for it. "There's even the regions he's been in; New-York, Germany and this place in either India or Nepal, I can't tell."

"Oh, this must be Kamar-Taj." Harry précised with a grimace.

Moving across the Chamber to study Loki's magical trail thoroughly, Jane went suddenly still as an obvious detail struck her right away.

"Oh, God! Hotaru, have you…?" Jane started in shock.

"Yes. See, between the spot Luna pointed out earlier and the Earth, Loki's trail follows a rectilinear motion." Hotaru explained to their comrades as her cunning violet eyes scrutinized the evergreen streak.

"And, if we observe it carefully, the trail is denser at regularly distanced locations!" Jane exclaimed as a pit of excitement started to flow all over her body.

"Are you assuming that those are portals?" Hermione wondered.

"Indeed. In fact, I count twelve of them." replied Hotaru.

"So, this would mean that Loki is able to teleport himself to such great distances only because he's dividing them in a multiple addition of shorter ones!" Harry thought aloud.

"Exactly. That's very clever of him. But, then again, it was to be expected." Jane responded.

"So, have you any idea to where Loki is precisely?" Ron wondered.

"It must be in this place in the Andromeda Galaxy. It's the first one that appeared to us." Luna proposed.

"I agree with you, Luna." Hermione nodded.

"That's what's most likely to be true." Hotaru confirmed. "This would explain why the lines departing from this place to reach down to Earth, and most precisely the grounds of Kamar-Taj, are the brighter ones."

"Do you mind if we scan this room? We must show this to Thor." Jane asked politely.

"No, we don't. In fact, I also think that you should. There's no way Kingsley will ever get us the permission to come back down here again." Hermione advised.

"How long is it going to take?" Ron asked.

"Just two to three minutes and we'll be done." Jane replied.

* * *

"My Lady. I came here to ask for your help." Thanos declared almost reverently as he kneeled down to kiss the hand of the elegant hooded figure standing eerily in front of him.

"Speak, Titan."

"For all these years that I have known You, My Love, I have been your most devoted worshiper. As Your faithful servant, today, I am humbly requesting You to grant me this single favor, the only one I shall ever ask of You."

The hooded figure walked gracefully down the few steps separating her from Thanos. As she moved, her fluid movements communicated incommensurable power. Her crystalline eyes roved over Thanos as she appraised the scent of death stemming from him.

"You killed an entire Realm." Death stated.

Thanos was chilled by the egregious accusation he perceived in her diaphanous voice.

"Only for you, My Lady."

"Do not lie to me, Thanos. I can tell the difference between an offering and the simple result of your complete loss of control!"

"I beg Your pardon, My Love."

"Rise up, Thanos. I am ready to forget this affront. Tell what it is that you want from me."

"I want a Gauntlet. But, firstly, I need _him_ out of the way."

"You must realize that I do hold _his_ life dear to me, Thanos."

Consumed with jealousy, his hands curled into tight fists. It was through pursed lips that Thanos proposed, "I am too well aware of the affection you feel for _him_ , My Lady. This is the reason why I will do absolutely anything in my power to earn the favor I am asking of You."

"This is an interesting proposition. After all, _his_ death is the key to our daughter's freedom and I would be interested to see the extent of power you are ready to deploy in your willingness to please me."

"I would do anything for You." Thanos promised.

"Then, I have a proposition for you. The death of the Elders in exchange of _his_. They have been testing my limits for too long."

* * *

In the Throne Room, all eyes were turned on the stellar projections and all ears were attentively focusing on each theory, each affirmation and scientific explanation advanced by Jane and Hotaru as the two women stood confidently in front of this intimidatingly mighty assembly as they defended their hypothesis. When their scientific argument finally came to an end, the two Midgardians shared a satisfied look, appreciating the results of their fruitful collaboration.

"Allfather, I say we must capture Loki. His crimes against the good people of Midgard cannot remain unpunished. We must put an end to his madness!" Thor affirmed.

"He has been running on the loose for too long! This is a golden opportunity that we cannot afford to let slip out of our hands, my King." Lady Sif agreed, her voice barely containing her distaste for their exiled Prince.

"Furthermore, we must not forget that Loki is already in the possession of the Power Stone. And, by the Nine Realms, we all know no good can come out of this!" Hogun added.

"Heimdall, is this young lady on Midgard?" Odin asked as he finally decided to take part to the conversation.

"She is, my King." Heimdall admitted resentfully. "Although, I must warn you that I do not support the decision you are about to take."

"Be reassured that I will carry on my plans regardless of your approval, Heimdall." Odin replied curtly. "We cannot risk another Gem falling into Loki's hands!"

"My son and the lady accompanying him will be tried fairly." Frigga felt the need to reassure both herself and Hotaru. Meeting Odin's furious glare, the Asgardians' Queen locked her eyes on her husband's, daring him to even try to do otherwise.

"So will be done." Odin conceded, exasperated by his wife's clear desire to protect their youngest son despite his rebellious action. "Now prepare yourselves for there is no much time left." Odin ordered under Heimdall's disapproving gaze.

* * *

Mikan sighed in relief when she was finally left alone in her room. She hadn't realized how much she had missed the comforting walls of Kamar-Taj before coming back there for one single day. However, even though she was reassured by the idea of coming down there each month, Mikan found the slowness with which the translations were advancing very depressing. She was fully aware it would take her at least one or two years to fulfill Loki's request and the idea of spending the few years she was left to live in a basement, far away from her friends, seemed very discouraging, no matter how agreeable Loki's company could be if she allowed herself the madness to embrace his persistent but subtle advances.

 _'Don't be stupid, Mikan. To him, you would only be a simple, yet very useful, fling… I will never let this happen, I am worthier than that!'_

She still had few hours left before Loki's return and she had no idea how to spend them. It was at this instant that she heard a soft knock on her door. It opened slightly and Christine shyly put her head round it, waiting for permission to step inside.

"Please, come in." Mikan invited her softly.

"Are you feeling any better?"

Mikan shrugged her shoulders. "I've been better but I've been worse too. I am fine, I guess."

"I see…" Christine sympathized as she took a seat on the edge of her bed. "That's quite a situation you put yourself into, Mikan."

"I know," the latter chuckled softly, "I am good at getting myself into trouble, a walking magnet of bad luck I'd even say!"

"So, now that we're finally all by ourselves, what's going on between you and Loki?" Christine asked with a wry smile, which only widened when Mikan choked in in surprise and her cheeks turned red with embarrassment.

"You don't beat about the brush, do you?"

"And you are trying to avoid answering to my question." Christine pointed out.

The young woman closed her eyes to restrain any of her tears from being shed. Taking in a deep breath, she dismissed her unnecessarily hurt feelings. Unexpectedly, what Mikan would have usually perceived as her friend's genuine concern for her wellbeing, she now saw as the woman's insulting lack of confidence in her own ability to keep her hormones in check.

"Well, I hope you won't be too disappointed to learn that there's absolutely and utterly nothing going on between Loki and I."

"You're a terrible liar, Mikan."

"And you, my friend, are the second person to tell me this in two days!" Mikan huffed in frustration, as she desperately tried to act as if Christine's perseverance hadn't felt like she was rubbing salt into her wounds.

"Guessing who the first person stated that is an easy task. Well, if the god of Lies himself said it to you, it must be true then, don't you think?" Christine asked with a cheeky smile, unaware of the effects her words had on Mikan.

"Fine. You won! Yes, there's something but I am never going to let it happen! In fact, neither Loki nor I are stupid enough to give in to it. Trust me, I haven't forgotten what he did two months ago. Now tell me Christine, is this what you and Stephen wanted to hear?" Mikan finally exploded.

At first, only confused by the anger and accusation in her friend's voice, Christine opened her mouth to apologize but was cut short when several items in the room flew from their location and crashed noisily into the walls, breaking into pieces. The noise startled Christine and she barely had time to duck as Mikan's wardrobe flew over her head. In the midst of this chaos the surgeon was unable to understand what could have triggered Mikan's angry reaction. Never had her gentle and optimistic younger friend ever raised her voice against her let alone had she ever shown any hint of violence towards her beloved friends.

At Christine's dismay, Mikan bit her lower lip, ashamed of her own behavior. She was shocked by how quick she had been to lose her temper. Mikan lowered her eyes to the floor, unable to stand the fear in Christine's eyes, only to realize in what state she had put the room in as she observed all the broken pieces of furniture and other sundry objects.

"I am so sorry, I didn't mean to do this." she apologized faintly as she started to move her right hand in a circular motion.

"No! Don't leave!" Christine begged, "Please, Mikan, we can talk this out."

Mikan shook her head, finally allowing her tears to flow. "No, we can't. I just need to be alone."

And the Alice teleported herself away.

Appearing in an empty meadow, all Mikan's confusion and sadness disappeared instantly. Overwhelmed by the abrupt shift of her emotions, she hadn't time to dodge the silver chains that tied themselves tightly around her. Trying to free herself out of her bonds to only see them tightened their hold of her, Mikan cursed when she failed to use any of her Alices. Finally struck by the realization that none of them were working anymore, Mikan began to panic. _'No! No! No! No! Nooo! You can't let me down! Not now!'_

"Shit!" Mikan cried as she was covered by the brilliant beam of energy that was the Bifrost. "For Gosh sake, what's with Asgardians and kidnapping!" she cried out in frustration.

In no time, Mikan found herself surrounded by Frigga, Asgardian soldiers, Thor, Heimdall and Odin. When she met Frigga's gaze, Mikan finally discerned the reason of her sudden mood swings. _'Like mother, like son, they say…'_

 _'Indeed, who do you think Loki learned his manners from, young Lady?'_

Mikan's lips parted in surprise when the Queen Mother's voice echoed in her head.

 _'What did you do to me?'_ she wondered, _'How did you manage to suppress my Alices?'_

 _'I wouldn't say suppress, Little One. The chains binding you are absorbing all the magical energy emanating from your body.'_

Mikan's mind paused at Frigga's use of the nickname her son had picked for her and frowned at her explanation.

"Our paths meet again, Lady. However, this time I will not let you slip through my fingers." Thor claimed as he reached down for their new captive capturing her full attention. "Sif, hand me the bottle." Thor ordered as he pinched Mikan's nose and forced her mouth open. He growled when the latter bit him hard and tried to stubbornly crawl away from his grasp.

It took the combined might of Thor and Warriors Three to completely immobilize Mikan whose ribs were now threatening to break at any instant for the chains tying her were continuing to tighten around her body. Now that the young woman was powerless and gasping for air, Thor finally managed to force her mouth open.

"Lady Granger said two drops would suffice." he informed Sif.

Sif smiled grimly as she forced the bottle's entire contents down Mikan's throat. "Then the entire bottle ought to be more than even. Can't be too cautious with all the trouble she has caused."

Mikan coughed, then winced in pain as Frigga used her Magic to force her to swallow the liquid. Only then did she feel the chains loosen lightly as Frigga released their grasp slightly.

"What's… What did you give me?" Mikan managed to ask.

"A truthful serum." Thor answered. "Now tell me where my brother is."

Mikan closed her eyes as she desperately tried to fight off the effect of the Veritaserum. Sadly, all her efforts were wasted in vain since her lips started moving against her will.

"I… I am not sure. But he said he would pick me up today, he'll be in Kamar-Taj in few hours." she admitted resentfully. Mikan growled as an intense pain ran through her right wrist.

She felt like crying, she hated this feeling, despised the sensation of losing all control over her will and her body. Her pride was all that was left of her. Therefore, Mikan forbade herself to make any more show of weakness. She barely managed to bounce back into a seated position.

"Is she under Loki's influence?" Odin asked Frigga who shook her head to the negative.

"No. She seems to be quite resistant to Mental Manipulation. The amount of Magic I had to use to control her for only few minutes would have allowed me to subdue an entire room of our people." Frigga detailed as she physically spoke for the first time. She was clearly impressed by Mikan's capacities.

Kneeling down to reach Mikan's chin, Odin held it in between his thumb and his forefinger so their eyes would lock. He took his time to patiently and attentively observe her features, study her stature. She looked so fragile between his fingers although he knew better than to be fooled by appearances. _'Loki chose her for a reason. Now, what could that be?'_

The young woman gulped when she met Odin's stoic blue eye. His aura was calm, yet imposing. Slightly threatening even. Mikan mustered her courage to not lower her gaze. She stood no chance against him, with or without chains, and she knew it.

"The Power Stone. Where is it? What does Loki intend to do with it?" Odin questioned.

"This is where you're getting it wrong. Loki wasn't the one who wanted to retrieve the Stone, I did." Mikan clarified in a vain attempt to avoid answering him. "I am not your son's subordinate. I do not work for him but with him."

"Answer my questions." He ordered sternly.

"It's in my possession. Don't bother trying to find it. You won't. As a matter of fact, even I can't withdraw it from the seals protecting it." Mikan admitted with frustration at her inability to master her own body. "Rest reassured, we never had any intention of using it in the first place. I just wanted to prevent it from falling under Thanos' hands."

"Heimdall told us you were the first to try to contact Loki, what did you want from him?" Odin asked, truly curious to discern what were the little mortal's intention. As he released her chin from his grasp, Mikan's shoulders relaxed slightly.

"My first visit over Loki's cell wasn't planned. I just wanted to destroy the Infinity Gauntlet in S.H.I.E.L.D's possession and the Necklace of Black Pearls. But then, I just happened to notice that Loki had more than one aura and I hadn't the heart to leave him like that when I knew I could help. So, at first, I just went to free him of the bonds that were partially tying his soul and his mind. But, after Thor mentioned the nature of Allice's death, I just put two and two together and I realized it was Thanos who had been exercising this oppressive influence over Loki." Mikan blurted out, "This is the reason why I paid Loki a second visit. I wanted to make sure whether Thanos was indeed the one who sent him to Earth and if he is looking after the Infinity Stones." Mikan added reluctantly, relieved by the fading pain in her wrist.

At the unexpectedly perplexed looks on his parents' face, Thor realized that, contrary to his primary assumptions, Heimdall had shared these crucial pieces of information with him only. Surprised by Heimdall's odd behavior, Thor finally decided not to question his choices and to put more trust in his observant friend's decisions.

"Is there anything else that you forgot to mention, Heimdall?" Odin inquired coolly.

"I am afraid Lady Sakura has left nothing more for me to add, My King." Heimdall stated as he held steadily Odin's severe gaze.

"You destroyed the Infinity Gauntlet?" Frigga asked, suddenly looking at Mikan with fresh eyes.

"I did." Mikan nodded.

A deafening silence invaded the Observatory as the weight of Mikan's affirmation started to sink in the minds of Odin and Frigga. Thor's friends, for their part, had a harder time believing Loki's dubious accomplice.

"Well, this explains Thanos's disproportionate reaction." Odin thought aloud.

"I beg your pardon?" Mikan snapped. "You qualify it as a ' _disproportionate reaction'_? So that's all what it is? Just a _'disproportionate reaction'_. He exterminated an entire Realm for crying out loud! And, for all I know, you did nothing to stop his madness! You're as much to blame as he is for their death!" she accused him angrily.

"You are one to talk, Little Minx! What did your little escapade with Loki do to change or to stop any of this from happening?" Fandral pointed out.

"As far as I am concerned, until now, I have been more useful than any of the people in this room!" Mikan exploded, "I've destroyed the Infinity Gauntlet and sealed the Power Stone away from anyone's reach! What can you say for yourselves?!"

"Watch your tone, mortal!" Sif threatened her.

"Or what?" Mikan defied her, "The five of you will all jump on me again? Come on, what are you waiting f..."

"Enough!" Odin roared.

Silence fell upon the room as Gungnir hit sternly the ground.

"We are willing to look down upon this offense if you try to cooperate with us, young lady." Frigga offered, not truly giving Mikan another choice but to seize the opportunity she was granting her.

Mikan sighed, too angry to speak, sullen and furious as she stared stubbornly at her abductors, daring them to push her limits any further.

"Were your previous words implying that my son does not wield the entire responsibility over his actions against your people?" Odin queried with a narrowed eye.

Frigga's heart skipped a beat at her husband use of the word _son_. A word he hadn't used since Loki had jumped off the Bifrost. Frigga bit her lip and started to pick at her hands nervously. If what Mikan had said was true this would mean that her son's punishment could be reduced. And by her husband's beard they made her drink an entire vial of Veritaserum!

"Your Highnesses, she's obviously been manipulated by Loki into believing this!" Fandral cried out, outraged to see this minx raising false hopes into his Queen's heart.

"Do not interrupt me, Fandral! My question was addressed to our prisoner!"

"My apologies, Allfather." mumbled Fandral, lowering his eyes to the ground.

Sif's hands curled into tight fists. How could the Royal family be so blinded by their love for Loki? _'By the Norns! Are they still going to give this Jotun runt another chance after the all countless time he has deceived us all? Such madness cannot be allowed to happen again!'_

"Yes. Loki was under the influence of both the Soul and Mind Stones. But only partially. He could have ended the attack sooner if he had wanted to." Mikan nodded, this time answering willingly.

In consequence to Frigga's sorrow, the chains tying Mikan loosened enough to finally allow her to regain some control over her powers. She swiftly used them to help her metabolism rid of the Veritaserum that was infesting it while using her Alices to have them believe that nothing had changed. Her eyes met and held Heimdall's eyes for a matter of few seconds. He nodded discreetly his apologies to her and returned his attention to the rest of the crowd, acting as if there was nothing amiss.

"Have you ever been under my brother's mind control?" Thor asked, to reassure and calm his loyal companions down.

"Just once." admitted Mikan, sighing at the unpleasant memory. She ignored the triumphant glares Sif and the Warriors Three exchanged, fully aware that gaining their blessing was pointless since the final say on her fate would lay upon the royals' decision.

"What did my son try to make you do?" inquired Frigga, hopeful at the idea of gaining another reason as to why they should reduce their female prisoner's final sentence, and yet saddened and nervous to learn how Loki misused his magical skills on this female mortal.

"Nothing too serious, he tried to make me eat a Golden Apple."

A surprised murmur echoed in the room.

"Why would Loki have to use his powers to make you eat a Golden Apple?" wondered Sif, bewildered by the idea of someone refusing the offer of immortality.

"Loki said that he was doing me a favor because he knew that I would have refused otherwise." Mikan explained, "Thankfully, he underestimated me and I escaped his hold before committing the irreparable."

"So, you refused Loki's offer?" Hogun frowned, unsure on whether he should respect Mikan for it or see it as a proof of her idiocy.

"Of course. I do not see the point of being immortal."

"Now I understand," smirked Sif haughtily, "You're just stupid."

Mikan tilted her head and smiled mysteriously, just as if she was the only one who could understand the humor of the situation. "Think of me as it pleases you, Lady Sif. I do not care for your opinion of me."

"I understand that you gave Loki as much troubles as you gave us when he kidnapped you, Little One." Odin stated, entertained and slightly impressed by their captive's stubbornness.

"Back then I was too weakened to fully absorb the reality of my situation, but yes. In a certain way, yes. I like to think I did." Mikan replied smugly as she looked down at her right wrist.

"Does this bracelet bond your soul to my son's?" Frigga breathed, taken off guard by the sole idea of Loki putting enough trust in someone to take such a bold risk. Let alone for a Midgardian at that.

"Loki's and Stephen's." Mikan replied succinctly.

"Why?" Thor wondered, confused. For as long as he could remember, Loki had never taken the risk to contract a blood pact. _'Why now? What is so special in this Lady Sakura to let both Loki and Heimdall act so out of character?'_

"I know Loki cannot be trusted. By making this pact, I ensured myself his loyalty."

"So, you're not as stupid as I thought you to be." Sif smirked, looking down at Mikan.

"Too bad my first impression of you hasn't changed." Mikan smiled too sweetly at her.

Sif pursed her lips and dismissed Mikan's retort with a roll of her eyes.

"I am sorry, I am usually more agreeable when I am not chained down and being force fed!" the young woman pointed out sarcastically.

Hogun's sneer turned into a loud groan of pain when Mikan kicked him on the shin, using both tied legs.

"What are your intentions towards me?" Mikan finally asked.

"It all depends on your willingness to cooperate." Frigga answered. "Help us capture Loki and you'll be set free."

"I am afraid this is most unlikely to happen. I won't speak let alone play a role in his recapture. Be warned: getting to me will not bring you any closer to him."

"You leave us no other choice, young lady." Frigga sighed.

"Thor show our new gest the way to the Dungeons." Odin ordered.

"I still have one question for you though." Mikan addressed Frigga. "How did you know how to suppress my powers?"

"Lady Hotaru showed me."

Mikan's breath caught in her throat, her eyes grew wet and she lowered her gaze to the floor. She clenched her fists so hard her fingernails dug into her palms until her hands started to bleed. It hurt. Mad at her own self and yet thankful to the discretion her Illusion Alice was allowing her to hide behind, Mikan rashly wiped her tears. This was so stupid and irrational of her to feel betrayed by her childhood friend's choice to help capturing her. They hadn't met for more than twelve years and until very recently Hotaru still believed her to be six feet under. _'I no longer have the rights to feel this way…'_

"I see." sighed Mikan.

Sif reached harshly for her clone to get her back on her feet. Mikan withdrew her arm from Sif's strong grasp and punched her in the face, watching as Sif fell to the floor unconscious.

"Like I already said: I have no intention to cooperate with you." Mikan repeated.

She took advantage of her inner turmoil, her frustration in front of this situation to deflect her slender control over her countless Alices. Powers even the chains Frigga had conjured weren't able to contain any longer. Mikan's eyes flashed dangerously as a violent blast of her energy shook down the entire room, throwing all the persons in it several meters away. Taking advantage of the effect of surprise, Mikan finally freed herself of the chains binding her body.

As her clone vanished from the Observatory to roam through the streets of Asgard closely followed by the deceived crowd, Mikan was left alone there, in Heimdall's safe company.

"How much time do we have before they realize they've been played?" Mikan inquired as a strong shield started to surround them.

"Five to six minutes. Maybe longer if I try to cover for your trace." Heimdall answered as he reached the young woman's height. "Mikan, I will not send you back to Midgard. I cannot risk losing the faith Odin has placed on me. I will not be of any help for you locked in the Dungeons."

"I understand. But what should I do then? I just made it impossible for me to ever gain their trust again, there is no way I am handing them the Stone, I will not leak any more information on Loki's whereabouts, and I refuse to spend the few more years I am left to live locked in Asgard's Dungeons!"

"Do not worry. I will not allow this to happen, Mikan." Heimdall reassured her as he placed a comforting hand over the desperate woman's shoulder. "As I told you, I can cover your tracks and you can conceal your presence. Lay low for a while, let them capture your clone and wait for Thor to use the Bifrost again. I will give you a sign when I consider it to be the right time for you."

"And what about Loki and Stephen?"

"Do not worry about it. The Ancient One is taking care of the situation."

"Thank you for helping me and having such faith in me, Heimdall. It means so much to me..." Mikan whispered, covering his hand with hers as her eyes dangerously started watering. The Guardian of the Bifrost nodded with a shadow of a smile brightening his face.

When Heimdall placed a hand behind her neck, Mikan's eyes turned gold as he handed her his sight. The vision of two enormous doors of stone, on which featured a large image of the mythical tree Yggdrasil, appeared to her.

"Is this…?"

"The Hidden Stronghold, an ancient and forgotten fortress lost within the mountains. It will be a safe place for you to hide. Follow this path and do not forget to gather food and water supplies on your way. Once there, be patient and wait for my signal. Now go."

* * *

Christine couldn't help but feel responsible for the messy situation they were in. Two more hours had passed since Mikan's disappearance and there was still no signs of her nor of their friends. With Mikan's ability to conceal her spiritual presence, she had left no trail for them to retrace her to her current location. Still, this hadn't dissuaded the Ancient One, Stephen and Mordo from going out searching for her, even though they were left to play mind games as they desperately tried to guess where their friend could have vanished.

' _I still can't believe that I acted so insensitively towards her. What the hell was I thinking?! She is obviously still very affected by what she witnessed yesterday. And she is going through so much lately…'_

As she was nervously pacing back and forth, Christine heard the sound of shattering glass beneath her. Her heart missed a beat when she realized she had stepped on a photo frame. _'Oh, no! Please, don't be it!'_ she pried as she bent down to gather the broken frame. Christine carefully cleared it of the glass shards recovering it and was struck by remorse when she recognized Mikan's most treasured item, her sole attempt to reenact a reminiscence of this family she never quite had the chance to have. The photograph captured a happy family, Mikan smiling in its center was enveloped in her late parents loving, protective embrace. Christine bit her lower lip as she felt her heart sank.

Sighing, Christine wiped the tears she hadn't realized had flown down her cheeks and did the only thing she could think of to make herself useful that didn't require the use of superpowers. She started to clean up the incredible mess that was left of Mikan's room. It took much effort and three whole hours but she was satisfied by the result. Exhausted by the task, Christine ended up crashing on Mikan's comfortable bed. She fell into a deep torpor for she could not keep her eyes open any longer.

* * *

It was the sounds of four distinct voices that woke Christine up. Still half-asleep and groggy, she quickly checked the time on her phone. The screen indicated 00:00, she had been asleep for more than five hours. Struck by surprise, Christine hurried out of the bed and burst into the Ancient One's chambers. Four heads turned in her direction. The Ancient One silently invited her to take a seat between herself and Loki. Christine met his icy gaze and the hairs on the back of her neck rose up. She refrained from shivering. Taking in a sharp breath the woman diligently obliged the Ancient One's instruction, regardless of her fear of the Asgardian.

"You still haven't found Mikan?" Christine asked timidly.

The awkward silence that invaded the room spoke for itself.

"Mikan is not on Earth anymore." Stephen sighed, unaware of the silent exchange in which Loki and the Ancient One were engaged. "All the clues we have lead us back to the same conclusion: we believe her to have been captured by Asgard."

All colors drained from her face, Christine suddenly felt sick as a strong sense of guilt and shame invaded her body. However, unwilling to be the source of any more concern and fully aware that such behavior wouldn't help resolve their problems, Christine promptly recomposed herself.

"Is there anything we can do to help her?" she finally asked.

"No." Loki responded sharply, with a semblance of annoyance in his voice.

Loki took in the somehow welcoming intense pain running through his right wrist. It helped quiet down that uneasy feeling of guilt and concern he experienced toward Mikan's precarious situation for which he could only be held directly liable for he had followed blindly the Ancient One's requests without questioning them. He then returned his attention back to the Sorcerer Supreme. _'I would like to believe this wasn't what you were planning to when you sent Strange to tell me to bring her back here!'_ he stated, still unsure on whether he had the right to express his anger on the unexpected turn the events had taken.

' _It is.'_ confirmed the Ancient One. _'I am surprised to hear accusation in your voice. I thought you would have assumed my intentions out by yourself already.'_

 _'Don't take that tone with me, old woman.'_ Loki retorted, annoyed by the Ancient One's mild condescension. _'How was I supposed to know you would be capable of such folly!'_

 _'I always only had Mikan's best interest in mind. Don't act so surprised about it, you already knew I was capable of challenging her safety if it meant serving her the chances of living a better future.'_ the Ancient One pointed out. _'I do not remember you minding it back when I handed her to you and this situation is in all ways similar to it. What changed since then?'_

 _'What has changed? I hadn't already taken an oath on my life not to betray her trust back then! She was neither guarding the Orb nor in the possession of one of my journals and she meant nothing to me but a mere escape plan! Yet you knew I would never do anything to harm her and there lays all the difference.'_ Loki countered vehemently.

The Ancient One arched a surprised eyebrow, caught short by Loki's indirect confession of his growing affection for Mikan.

 _'Just as I know Thor will never allow any wrong to be done to her.'_

At the mention of his brother's name, Loki's eyes narrowed into sharp crescents. He was now seething. The woman was truly starting to test his patience.

 _'What good do you expect out of it anyway? Tell me this instant what it is that Mikan could possibly gain by being held captive there when she stands no chance against them!'_

 _'No, she does: Heimdall will help her. He knows better than to allow such an enormous mistake as letting Mikan be jailed. And, yes it will do her good. This will help her to finally figure out what happened to her in her unconscious years and how much in danger she still is.'_ retorted the Ancient One.

Loki frowned as a terrible flash of anger crossed his now darkened eyes. No longer concerned by the presence of Stephen, Mordo and Christine surrounding them, he expressed his indignation aloud:

"By the Norns! What is this nonsense supposed to mean? Hasn't it even crossed your mind that I should be warned of any danger that Mikan could be exposed to?"

Christine jolted, startled Loki's abrupt outburst. This was the loudest she had heard him speak yet. She placed a hand on her pounding heart, certain that the god of Lies and Mischief could hear its furious beats against her chest. Stephen reached for her free hand in a reassuring gesture, just as dismayed as she was by Loki's irrational fit of anger. However, he knew better that to judge the situation too hastily, therefore he discreetly made sign to Mordo to lower his drawn weapon.

"Master, what is he talking about?" Mordo wondered, caught off guard by Loki's unexpected behavior, shocked to witness him raise his voice at the Ancient One.

"What danger is Mikan exposed to?" Stephen asked as a gut-wrenching foreboding overwhelmed him.

The Ancient rose to her feet and walked to the door before swinging it open. "Mordo, would you mind walking our guest back to her home." the Sorcerer Supreme ordered.

"Are you truly going to leave me out of this?" Mordo asked, insulted by her request.

"The less known, the better." the Ancient One stated in a poised voice, completely unimpressed by Loki's anger and Mordo's offense. "Mordo, don't let your pride take over Mikan's safety."

"We'll leave now." Christine nodded, and grabbing Mordo's hand, she dragged him out of the room.

The Ancient One sighed as she closed her chamber doors behind them. Then, drawing a portal to the Mirror Dimension, she sealed it with enough spells to ensure the secrecy of their discussion. Somehow, the great lengths she was taking only made the two men's worries grew wider. They exchanged a look before following her into the Mirror Dimension.

"What danger is Mikan facing? Is it really that bad?" Loki reiterated calmly, cooled down by the Ancient One's grave look.

"Allice is still alive and he is closer to Mikan that any of you could ever think of."

* * *

 **A.N: Thank you for reading this chapter! Constructive criticism is always welcome, please leave a review!  
**


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